A new service is available from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. to help corn growers find improved opportunities for marketing their production. The Marketing Opportunities System is a web-based listing of grain handlers, elevators and processors throughout the Corn Belt which provides details about the specific types of grain buyers are seeking.

"Today’s corn grower is searching for the greatest return per acre and wants to know what opportunities are available and which are the best," says Morrie Bryant, key accounts manager at Pioneer. "With our new Market Opportunities System, a grower can evaluate the markets within his or her local geography before deciding what to plant.

"In some cases, the grower may find better markets for stored grain that fits certain specifications because of local market demand changes from year to year," Bryant explains.

Available through local Pioneer representatives, the system allows a grower to search for market opportunities within a geography by grain type, distance, hybrid number or a combination of these items. The system then provides a listing of all companies that match the criteria. Contact
information such as phone number, location, grain specifications, delivery information and pricing may be included in the listing.

"In all cases, the information the grower needs to evaluate the opportunity and make contact with the grain buyer are provided through the system," Bryant adds.

For example, grain buyers for Lauhoff Grain in Danville, Ill., want corn with a high test weight and large kernel size to use in the company’s dry milling operations. They believe placing Lauhoff’s specifications on Pioneer’s Marketing Opportunities System will enhance their ability to procure more high-quality grain.

Through this project, Lauhoff can inform the farmer and the seed provider as to what the company is looking for in corn quality. The farmer and seed provider can then work together to select the hybrids that meet the grower’s needs and allow the grower to produce high-quality grain that enables him to have the opportunity for premiums.

For more information about marketing opportunities growers should contact their local Pioneer seed provider.

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., (NYSE-PHB) is the world's leading supplier of agricultural genetics and is the leading developer and integrator of agricultural technology. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, Pioneer develops, produces and markets a full line of seeds, forage/grain additives and services to grain and livestock producers, grain processors and other customers worldwide.

Company news release
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