By Shannon Schaffer, U.S. Grains Council Director of Membership 

The U.S. Grains Council’s 50th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting is just two days away and the excitement is building. Almost 350 individuals, including attendees, Council staff, speakers and guests, will be traveling to Boston, Mass., for this meeting. This will make it the largest attended regular Council meeting ever! Included in this number are 21 former Council chairmen and several key former Council staff. The meeting will bring the history of the Council to life.

The meeting’s theme, “50 Years of Leadership: Acting on Opportunities,� captures our desire to celebrate the Council’s history, while looking forward and planning for the future, a key focus of the meeting.

The work Council members will carry out in Boston is critical to the continued success of the Council. This meeting will bring our key international staff together with our membership to discuss current international market opportunities for U.S. corn, barley, sorghum and their co-products. The Board of Delegates will also elect a new Board of Directors and officers, to serve the 2010-2011 term, and approve a budget for the coming fiscal year.

Beyond planning the future of the Council, attendees will also hear from internationally recognized speakers to help put the issues of the day in context for the work they are doing. Colombian Ambassador to the United States Carolina Barco will discuss the trade relationship between the United States and Colombia; an especially pertinent issue given the absence of a ratified free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia. This cost the U.S. corn sector $314 million in 2009. Furthermore, the U.S. market share of Colombia’s feed grain imports dropped from 96 percent in 2007 to 38 percent in 2009.

Mr. Hanver Li, managing director and chief analyst of Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. Ltd., will be in attendance to discuss the recent exports of U.S. corn to China. China recently opened its markets to U.S. corn to satisfy its ever-growing demand, and it is anticipated that China will continue to import U.S. corn.

Other notable keynote speakers include: Ambassador Islam A. Siddiqui, chief agriculture negotiator for the Office of the USTR; Dr. Joseph Glauber, chief economist for U.S. Department of Agriculture; The Honorable Daniel R. Pearson, vice chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission; The Honorable James Miller, USDA Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services; Mr. Richard Fritz, executive director for the Food and Agriculture Export Alliance; and Ambassador Clayton Yeutter, former Secretary of Agriculture.

For 50 years the Council, following necessary input from its members, has been moving forward in carrying out its mission of Developing Markets, Enabling Trade and Improving Lives. We are grateful so many individuals are able to join us to celebrate this milestone in Council history.