Members of a Japanese media team visiting the United States tour a greenhouse facility at a Monsanto research laboratory in St. Louis, Missouri. Aug. 11, 2015.

Reporters from Japan get a briefing on – and some pictures of – a Zen Noh grain export loading facility near New Orleans, Louisiana. Aug. 10, 2015.

Rod Schilling, a farmer near Okawville, Illinois, shows members of a Japanese media team historical photos of his farm before a tour of the modern-day operation. Aug. 12, 2015.

Japanese reporters visiting the U.S. Midwest pose in with Brent Hoerr, a Missouri farmer, and his family in front of one of his corn fields. Aug. 13, 2015.

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) hosted a team of Japanese reporters and bloggers in the U.S. Corn Belt last week to educate them about U.S. farming practices, export channels and agricultural technology with a special focus on biotechnology.

Japan is a top buyer of U.S. corn and a country in which consumer attitudes toward farming and technology can significantly impact food industry behaviors. Still, many Japanese people, including some of the reporters who participated in the team activities last week, have concerns – or simply lack information – about farming practices in the United States using modern seeds, crop protection methods and equipment.

The goal of this team visit was to provide the reporters with on-the-ground experiences that will be of interest to current readers as well as facts to share with their colleagues and to inform their reporting far into the future.

The group started their journey in the New Orleans area, where they toured a Zen Noh load-out facility and received a full briefing on the U.S. grain production and export systems in their native Japanese.

The next stop was St. Louis for visits to Monsanto’s research laboratories, a stop at a local farm to see corn fields, equipment and grain storage facilities; and a briefing by a biotechnology expert from the University of California-Riverside. Another farm stop in Missouri offered a second view of a U.S. farm and a tour of local fields that had faced weather pressure.

The journey continued with a stop at a research farm in Iowa, additional briefings at Iowa State University and time at the Iowa State Fair.

Additional photos are available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/usgc/albums/72157654865160164.