By Mike Callahan, U.S. Grains Council Senior Director of International Operations for Asia 

In last night’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said he wanted exports to double within the next five years. He said it was vital to our nation that the United States and especially U.S. farmers provide the agricultural products that are sought around the world. I found this encouraging to our efforts of the U.S. Grains Council with the funding from U.S. farmers’ checkoffs and U.S. agribusinesses.

For the last 50 years, farmers have invested their own money into building markets around the world for their products. They have seen significant returns on their investment as economies like South Korea and Egypt become developed, turning to the United States to fulfill a portion of their food and feed needs. The USGC 7th International Marketing Conference and 50th Annual Membership Meeting, held Feb. 13-17 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, comes at an opportune time as we will take the charge from our Commander-in-Chief and prepare ourselves to increase our marketing efforts. This meeting provides the Council and its members a unique opportunity to coordinate efforts to form a unified front to developing international markets for U.S. corn, barley, sorghum and their co-products. The meeting allows a venue for U.S. producers, agribusinesses and USGC staff to discuss insights and experiences and form an industry approach to the world in the form of a Unified Export Strategy (UES). The UES is the Council’s strategic plan for developing international markets for U.S. grains and co-products. It is submitted to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in order to obtain market development funding, primarily through the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development program. As President Obama said in his address, he does not accept second place for the United States and we agree. We have 10 international offices and representation in 15 different countries. We work around the world, around the clock to ensure that the United States maintains and increases its market share in existing markets, and finds new markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and their co-products. I hope to see you all in Puerto Vallarta.