| Global Update: June 24, 2010 | | | |
| Contact Marri Carrow at 202-789-0789 | |
| Download the PDF United States Risks Losing Export Market to Colombia --Canada Ratifies FTA with Colombia-- While the United States sits on the sidelines, competition for market share in Colombia heats up as U.S. competitors negotiate free trade agreements (FTA). This week, Canada ratified an FTA with Colombia and the European Union is expected to complete an agreement this summer. According to the U.S. Grains Council, the continued delay in ratifying the U.S-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) is having a profound impact on U.S. agriculture. “Despite the fact that Colombia has been the largest market for U.S. agriculture exports in South America and the third-largest market in the Western hemisphere, behind only Canada and Mexico, we have lost significant market share in just a short period,” said USGC Chairman Rick Fruth. U.S. exports of agricultural commodities declined sharply from $1.6 billion in 2008 to $907 million in 2009, a 46 percent decline. | |
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| Global Update: June 17, 2010 | | | |
| Contact Marri Carrow at 202-789-0789 | |
| Download the PDF Ambassador Yeutter to Speak at USGC Annual Meeting The Honorable Clayton Yeutter, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, is scheduled to speak at the U.S. Grains Council’s 50th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting next month. The meeting, to be held July 18-21, 2010, will celebrate the Council’s 50 years of international market development for U.S. corn, barley, sorghum and their co-products. Ambassador Yeutter’s affiliation with the Council began in the 1960s when he returned to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and became involved in international affairs. “I was impressed that [the Council] had already established a number of offices and had excellent people doing a superb job of getting the recipient companies interested in feed grains; not an easy task at the time,” Ambassador Yeutter said. | |
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| Global Update: June 10, 2010 | | | |
| Contact Marri Carrow at 202-789-0789 | |
| Download the PDF USGC’s Spring China Crop Tour Concludes Huge US Corn Potential Opportunity exists for China to import a “huge” amount of U.S. corn to meet its current market demand, before the 2010 crop enters the market, said U.S. Grains Council Assistant Director in China Sam Niu Yishan. This observation came subsequent to the Council’s spring tour of Northeast China’s corn crop production and supply, which concluded June 3, 2010. Separated into three groups, nine experts in the international grains trading field, including members of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, traveled more than 3000 kilometers (1,864 miles) throughout the Chinese Provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin. The team also met with officials from Heilongjiang Grains Bureau and Jilin Agricultural Committee to exchange opinions on China’s crop production as well as its 2010 planting adversities. “China’s 2010 corn planting acreage is lower than expected, due to abnormal rains, snow and temperatures this spring,” said Yishan. While planting corn is more desirable due to current corn market conditions, Yishan said 2 to 3 percent of intended corn planting did not occur. Instead, farmers planted other crops such as green beans, sunflowers and corn silage. | |
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| Global Update: June 3, 2010 | | | |
| Contact Marri Carrow at 202-789-0789 | |
| Download the PDF Pearson to Keynote at U.S. Grains Council 50th Anniversary Meeting The Honorable Daniel R. Pearson, vice chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission, is slated to deliver the keynote address July 20 at the U.S. Grains Council’s 50th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting. The meeting, to be held July 18-21, 2010, will celebrate the Council’s 50 years of international market development for U.S. corn, barley, sorghum and their co-products. Pearson intends to look to the future and echo the meeting’s theme, "50 Years of Leadership, Acting on Opportunity," while his remarks will be heavily influenced by the lessons learned through active U.S. agricultural engagement in the global marketplace. He will also cover the challenges that lie ahead in the U.S. feed grains sector. | |
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| Global Update: May 27, 2010 | | |
| Contact Marri Carrow at 202-789-0789 | |
| Download the PDF Independent Study Highlights Success of USDA, FAS Market Development Programs From the facilitation of a buyer’s conference in Southeast Asia to spearheading feeding trials in Jordan, the U.S. Grains Council aligns its strategies with goals outlined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) as part of a shared effort to increase export opportunities for U.S. producers. Through FAS-administered programs, such as the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program, the Council is able to increase U.S. market opportunities for U.S. grains and co-products. But just how effective are such programs and do they contribute to the U.S. farmer’s bottom line? A recent independent study led by IHS Global Insight Inc. reveals that USDA’s international market development programs have a positive and significant impact on U.S. agricultural trade and the work done by agricultural cooperatives like the U.S. Grains Council. According to the study: • For every additional $1 expended by government and industry on market development, U.S. food and agricultural exports increased by $35; • Without the increased investment in market development since 2002, U.S. agricultural exports would have been $6.1 billion lower in 2009; • Export gains associated with the programs increased the average annual level of U.S. farm cash receipts by $4.4 billion and net cash farm income by $1.5 billion. At the same time, U.S. domestic support payments were reduced by roughly $54 million annually due to higher prices from increased demand abroad, thus reducing the net cost of the programs. |
