A team from the United States joined the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC’s) China staff at an event last week to present to Chinese stakeholders on the commitment, capacity and reliability of U.S. producers and for meetings with key Chinese buyers.

David Fremark, secretary of the U.S. Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP); Jesse McCurry, regional director of USCP; Thomas Russell from the Russell Marine Group; and Lyndsey Erb, USGC director of industry relations, traveled for the FoodChina Conference in Shenzhen.

With 100 members of the Chinese industry in attendance, USGC China staff and Fremark and McCurry gave presentations about the outlook for U.S. sorghum.

“During our one-on-one meetings before and after the conference, the Chinese livestock industry highlighted their demand for high-quality U.S. sorghum,� Erb said. “Due to their positive experiences with the feed ingredient, they have started to value the commodity as a premium grain.�

The Council will build off this momentum as it rolls out its 2015/2016 Sorghum Early Harvest Quality Report starting next week. Chinese end-users will be a key target audience for the information in this report as theirs was the top U.S. sorghum market during the 2014/2015 marketing year. As of Oct. 29, China had already purchased 2.7 million metric tons (106 million bushels) of U.S. sorghum for this marketing year, which is on course with last year’s imports.

“With three-quarters of this year’s U.S. sorghum production likely destined for export, this report discussing the quality characteristics that buyers value will be a crucial centerpiece to our promotional efforts around the world, and particularly in China,� Erb said.

The Council’s multi-pronged engagement continues in China, including programs focused on corn, distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), nutrient waste management and providing accurate, timely information to Chinese customers.