By Rebecca Bratter, U.S. Grains Council Director of Trade Development

2.5 billion. That’s the combined population of China and India. It’s also a number representing a growing need in the world today, the need to secure future food supplies for countries with exploding middle class populations.

This new reality is an emerging trend: recently a number of important grain customers to the United States have begun considering significant capital investments in the United States and elsewhere, all in an effort to secure future food supplies. An increase in overseas investment in grain terminals and elevators indicates a high level of concern among customers as does global investment by net food importing countries in resource-rich parts of the world such as Africa and Brazil. We can safely assume this trend is here to stay.

The U.S. Grains Council is pleased to work with a number of agricultural entities in critical markets to help them meet their food needs. The Council is focused on giving a high priority to the issue of international food demands and reassuring our customers around the world that the United States is the most reliable supplier of high quality grains and their co-products.

U.S. producers already know we as a nation must continue to grow, produce and export greater quantities of high quality grain than in the past, and growers are focused on utilizing all technology at hand to adopt scientific innovations that will allow us to continue to increase both production and yields. With this in mind, the Council will forge ahead, working with America’s global trade partners to ensure them that the United States can meet their grain needs now and in the future.

As producers adjust to this new reality, the United States continues to espouse the idea that free and open trade is the best option to keeping the world fed. We must continue to rely on a transparent rules basis system that keeps food and feed moving from where it’s abundant to where it’s needed most. At the end of the day, the message we are spreading to the world is this: the U.S. market is always open for business.