By: Kimberly Atkins, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Grains Council

This year’s corn crop is expected to be one of the largest on record, with roughly 384.92 million metric tons (15.153 billion bushels) projected to be produced, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest estimates. As a top corn exporter, farmers and the grain industry in the United States appreciate the opportunity to sell their product around the world to customers who need it to help drive their businesses and achieve food security for their nations.

With an increasingly competitive global landscape and emerging market development opportunities, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and its members are focused on corn quality as a key differentiator in retaining global customer confidence.

Corn quality is assessed by five important components: grade factors, moisture, chemical composition, physical factors and mycotoxins. Grade factors include test weight, broken corn and foreign material (BCFM), total damage and heat damage. Physical factors include stress cracks, kernel weight, kernel volume and true density, percent whole kernels and percent horneous (hard) endosperm. It is impossible to view these characteristics in isolation as each is essential to buyers’ overall perception of U.S. corn.

While the quality of corn delivered to a particular customer is a matter of contractual arrangement between a buyer and seller, overall crop quality is critical to U.S. brand competitiveness. For this reason, the Council works to lead discussions regarding these topics within the U.S. industry and provide the best possible information to the global buyers of U.S. corn.

As farmers look to harvest in the coming months, they are taking steps to ensure the quality of their production as well as that of corn in on-farm storage. As the crop is prepared for export, participants throughout the industry are also working to ensure quality in commercial storage as well as transportation channels.

USGC works closely with 29 different states to report on corn quality both as the crop comes out of the fields and as it is loaded into export vessels. As a result, the Council produces a yearly corn quality report that outlines the initial quality of U.S. yellow commodity corn as it enters merchandising channels.

Accurate and timely information on crop quality helps buyers make better informed decisions, increases confidence in the capacity and reliability of the market and assists nations around the world in achieving food security through trade.

Trade teams, industry meetings and local outreach are also consistently touted as central components in buyer confidence. With continued diversification of its sourcing from countries like Argentina and Brazil, however, the need to maintain consistency is key to critical buyers including Japan, Mexico, Colombia and South Korea as well as those in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Quality – accompanied by availability and price – is a critical factor in the ongoing success of the U.S. corn industry and our customers alike. We appreciate the opportunity to work throughout the value chain to continue to ensure we are providing the best possible product to those who use our grain globally.

To learn more about USGC’s recent buyer trade teams and missions, click here.