Celebrating 30 years of U.S. Grains Council (USGC) service, USGC Director in Mexico Julio Arturo Hernandez will be honored next week during the Council’s 13th International Marketing Conference and 56th Annual Membership Meeting in Sarasota, Florida.
USGC President and CEO Tom Sleight remembers when Hernandez joined the Council as manager for the technical section of the Council’s Mexico marketing plan. That was in 1985, when Mexico was buying fewer than 65 million bushels (1.65 million metric tons) of U.S. corn annually.
In the three decades since then, Hernandez has run countless livestock projects, brought hundreds of potential customers to the United States and added projects like the hugely successful distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) effort – which Hernandez calls his most exciting project to date – to the Council’s Mexican program.
And U.S. corn sales to Mexico have grown substantially with Mexico having imported 9.2 million tons (362.2 million bushels) of U.S. corn as Feb. 4, 1.2 million tons (47.2 million bushels) more than last year at the same time.
Through Hernandez’s long-lasting relations with Mexico’s poultry and livestock industries, the Council has also been able use Mexico’s progress as a showcase for teams from livestock sectors in emerging markets such as Morocco, Egypt and the Philippines.
“Julio’s contributions to both Mexico and the Council touched the whole range of livestock industries, feed millers and more,� said Sleight, who said his most vivid memory of Hernandez is from 1998, when the Council first planned a large-scale membership meeting outside the United States.
“The efficiency and joy that Julio and his staff displayed in organizing complicated farm tours for 300 people, using every bus available in Guadalajara, was fantastic. Enthusiastic, diligent, patient and loyal are the words that come to mind when I reflect on Julio’s career. I hope all our members will take this opportunity to thank him for his outstanding contributions.�
This accomplishment will mark the end of Hernandez’s career with the Council as he will be stepping down from his post at the end of March.
Congratulations, Julio!