Trade School Educates, Empowers Farmers On Policy, Exports

Nearly 50 farmers, corn organization staff and members of the local community gathered to dig into the hot topics of trade policy and exports at the first in-person “trade school” for corn farmers in two years, held in mid-March in Alexandra, Minnesota.

The event was a collaboration of the North Dakota Corn Utilization Council, the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council, U.S. Grains Council (USGC), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and Northern Crops Institute (NCI). It was the latest in a series of trade education workshops put on by the two national organizations in collaboration with state corn groups to dive deeply into trade policy developments.

While every trade school event is different based on current events and local interests, each aims to demonstrate the importance of trade to the agriculture industry and farmers’ profitability; connects topics in the news to the systems and structures of trade; and offers training on how participants can talk about trade issues in their communities.

The key message for participants is simple: trade policy and market development lead to sales.

“In a world where more than 95 percent of the population lives outside of the U.S. borders, and nearly a quarter of the grains we produce here go overseas in the form of commodities, meat or ethanol, getting access to and building relationships with global customers are absolutely critical to profitability,” said Melissa Kessler, USGC director of strategic initiatives and engagement, who led the launch of the workshop series and has facilitated most of the trade school events held by the national corn organizations, including the event in Alexandria.

“We put on these trade schools because we see the need for not just more information about trade and exports but context for the information that’s already out there, so it is more easily digested and used.”

The event covered the big picture of why trade is important to agriculture and the United States; basics about the World Trade Organization (WTO) and free trade agreements in the context of the current U.S. trade policy approach; and offered updates on the trade situation with China and Mexico.

“We were thrilled to see such a strong turnout from corn producers at this corn trade school. Corn is a global commodity and trade and market development and its importance to the bottom line is increasingly becoming of interest to our checkoff paying corn producers. This trade school put information on trade policy, strategy, market development processes and current geopolitical events into digestible pieces for producers in attendance. We all left feeling more prepared to have conversations about these critical topics, and to be better advocates for our industry,” said Justin Quandt, a North Dakota grower and member of the Council’s Asia Advisory Team.

Mark Jirik, director of the Northern Crops Institute, spoke about programs his organization is running to reach global customers, and Angus Kelly, NCGA director of policy based in Washington, D.C., spoke about how trade policy is impacting fertilizer prices and the importance of speaking regularly with policymakers about trade topics.

Ellen Zimmerman, USGC director of industry relations, and Michael Granché, NCGA manager of market development based in St. Louis, also attended the event to help engage producers.

The in-person events are supplemented by a variety of resources online, including the Council’s Learn About Trade webpage.