The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) welcomed to the United States a group of agriculture industry representatives and buyers from across Taiwan this month, taking part in Export Exchange in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a post-tour in Chicago and Seattle.
While in the states, the group gained an enhanced understanding of the economic and nutritional value of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), ethanol and corn quality. After meeting with suppliers and potential new trade partners at Export Exchange, the group headed to Chicago to see U.S. corn, DDGS and ethanol being produced in Illinois. USGC Taiwan Director Michael Lu and USGC Manager of Industry Relations Amelia Iliohan led the group including participants Wen-Chi Wen, Kuei-Hung Lin, Cheng-Cheng Tasi, Chung-Feng Chiang and Chien-Chun Wang.
Follow along on their journey through the photo essay below:
While most of the trade team experience took place in the farmland surrounding Chicago, when the group arrived in the city, they toured the Chicago River and learned more about how early Chicago trade operated on this historic waterway and how the city facilitates trade today. Some group members were seeing Chicago for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed the unique architecture and trade history in this Midwest hub city.
After spending the morning viewing Chicago’s trade waterway, the group headed to the Bunting family farm in Dwight, Illinois. There, they learned more about the current corn harvest, corn quality, yield rates and the use of those grains in surrounding agribusinesses. The group was able to learn more about farm operations, including how the three brothers work together to solely handle harvest every year. Kuei-Hung (Alex) Lin, commodity trading manager at Charoen Pokphand Enterprise Co. Ltd, was able to ride in the combine and experience harvest firsthand.
The next day, the team toured a CHS ethanol and DDGS plant in rural Illinois. Since 130 million gallons of ethanol are produced annually at this plant, in addition to 800 to 900 tons of DDGS per day, a highlight for the group was learning how ethanol is produced from start to finish.
Following their time with CHS, the group visited The DeLong Company container facility outside Chicago. This container facility is unique, considering it has access to all major U.S. railways in one location. The facility can ship directly north, south or to the east and west coasts. Brian Arnold, export sales staff at DeLong and a member of the USGC Value-Added Advisory-Team, educated the group on the container-only shipping facility and highlighted the innovation the company is using to fight shipping logistic issues and sustain quality control for international customers including Taiwan.
To conclude the group’s time in the U.S., the team members stopped by TEMCO Grain Terminal to meet with the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) in Tacoma, Washington. Taiwan has been working with the Council to create and encourage opportunities to further implement and increase the use of DDGS and ethanol in addition to its use of U.S. corn exports. The team’s visit to the U.S. for the 2022 Export Exchange event and post-Export Exchange travel to Chicago and Seattle solidified Taiwan’s investment in U.S. grains in all forms and opened the door to further market development for their customers.
About The U.S. Grains Council
The U.S. Grains Council develops export markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol. With full-time presence in 28 locations, the Council operates programs in more than 50 countries and the European Union. The Council believes exports are vital to global economic development and to U.S. agriculture’s profitability. Detailed information about the Council and its programs is online at www.grains.org.