Washington, DC, USA
August 12, 2009
The United States is more than
able to continue supplying domestic and international customers
with necessary feed grains, according to the
U.S Grains Council, the
leading organization for developing export markets for barley,
corn, sorghum and their co-products. At the same time, barley,
corn and sorghum growers can rest assured that exports are
making a critical contribution to the disappearance of grains
and their co-products, according to USGC President and CEO Ken
Hobbie. Citing today’s release of USDA’s World Agricultural
Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), Hobbie said rising demand
for ethanol and exports are responsible for this positive
outlook.
“This report emphasizes again how important building and
maintaining both domestic and international markets are to the
overall profitability of U.S. farmers,” said Hobbie. “Both
ethanol production and coarse grains exports are projected to
heavily contribute to the bottom line of U.S. producers going
forward.”
USDA projects U.S. feed grains supplies for 2009/2010 higher
with corn production more than offsetting a reduction in
supplies as 2008/2009 corn exports are raised 50 million
bushels. Corn production for 2009/2010 is projected at 12.8
billion bushels, up 471 million as higher forecast yields (153.4
bushels per acre to 159.5 bushels per acre) more than offset a
small reduction in harvested acres. The report stated U.S. corn
supplies are projected at a record 14.5 billion bushels, up 134
million bushels from the previous record set in the 2007/2008
marketing year. Corn exports are projected 150 million bushels
higher “reflecting reduced foreign production prospects and
stronger expected import demand from Mexico and Taiwan.” Sorghum
production was raised slightly from 380 million bushels to 381
million bushels. Barley was raised from 203 million bushels to
207 million bushels. Sorghum and barley exports are projected to
remain steady due to stable demand in Mexico and the Asian
markets.
“We hope the Council's efforts will increase corn exports far
beyond the 150 million bushels projected. Strong demand from
Mexico and Taiwan is welcomed,” said Hobbie. “Our export market
development programs will also be focused in building additional
demand in regions such as the Middle East, Southeast Asia and
North Africa. We are also soon to establish a regional office in
Latin America to focus increased attention on growing demand and
capturing greater U.S. market share for U.S. coarse grains in
Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala and other
countries in the region.”
The U.S. Grains Council is a private, non-profit partnership
of farmers and agribusinesses committed to building and
expanding international markets for U.S. barley, corn, grain
sorghum and their products. The Council is headquartered in
Washington, D.C., and has nine international offices that
oversee programs in more than 50 countries. Financial support
from our private industry members, including state checkoffs,
agribusinesses, state entities and others, triggers federal
matching funds from the USDA resulting in a combined program
value of more than $26 million. |
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