Taiwanese trade team swings through Minnesota
A U.S. Grains Council (USGC) trade team of Taiwanese swine producers and researchers visited Minnesota on Wednesday to get an up-close look at an ethanol plant and a Minnesota corn/soybean/hog family farm.
The group began their journey at the World Pork Expo in Iowa last week, then visited Minnesota before returning to Taiwan. The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) arranged a tour of the Corn Plus Cooperative ethanol plant in Winnebago and Tim Waibel’s family farm in Courtland.
“It was great to show the group what farming in Minnesota is all about and connect with customers and fellow farmers from another country,” said Waibel, who also serves on the MCGA board of directors and was joined for the visit by Minnesota Pork Executive Director David Preisler.
The visits are one way to give the Taiwanese swine producers, who are end-users of corn and co-products like distillers dried grains (DDGS), confidence in the United States’ ability to supply them with high quality products.
According to the USGC, the next generation of Taiwanese swine producers are not yet familiar with updated technology used in hog production in the United States and the advantages of using U.S. corn and DDGS in rations. There are about 8,600 swine farms with a population of 5.8 million head in Taiwan.
In marketing year 2013-14, Taiwan imported over 1.7 million tons of U.S. corn, more than tripling what it imported in 2012-13. In September of 2013, a 20-member Taiwanese delegation visited Minnesota to sign a letter of intent to purchase $3.5 billion in U.S. corn and soybeans.
Over the last two years, MCGA has worked with the USGC to coordinate corn farm visits and ethanol plant tours for visiting trade teams from Taiwan, China, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
“The USGC and partners like MCGA believe that helping this team learn about innovative U.S. swine production techniques and the advantages of using U.S. coarse grains and their co-products can improve production efficiency in Taiwanese swine farming,” said USGC Chairman Ron Gray, whose family farms in Illinois.
“This type of personalized outreach is critical because the expansion of livestock production in feed-deficient countries is the biggest driver of growth in the coarse grain trade.”
