Farmer and staff representatives of the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) recently traveled to Taiwan to support the organization's local office in presenting the results of the 2016/2017 Corn Harvest Report to customers in this important U.S. corn market.

Clover Chang, director of the USGC Taiwan office, hosted a conference for corn buyers from across Taiwan as a part of a series of rollout events scheduled by the Council to present the new quality report information.

Doug Albin, Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council (MCR&PC) member and USGC Asia Advisory Team member representative, and Cary Sifferath, USGC senior director of global programs, participated in this event to provide first-hand perspective to participants and answer questions directly about this year's crop.

In addition to the corn harvest results and providing details about his experience as a farmer, Albin presented information on research the MCR&PC funds at the University of Minnesota to improve soil health, solve production issues and introduce new uses for corn.
With new innovations in domestic corn production and its valued-added forms being shared with international buyers, USGC hopes to build demand and interest in these products, therefore expanding the U.S. corn export market.

"The research Doug spoke about, such as higher inclusion rates of distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in swine rations and shrimp feed rations including corn, was well received," said Sifferath.

Sifferath and Albin also met with Taiwan Council of Agriculture Minister Chi-Hung Tsao to discuss the trading relationship of Taiwan and the United States.

Taiwan imported more than 2 million metric tons (80.6 million bushels) of U.S. corn in marketing year 2015/2016, claiming nearly 40 percent of total market share and a position as the sixth largest U.S. corn market.

In the first three months of the 2016/2017 marketing year, the United States shipped more than 652,000 metric tons (25.7 million bushels) to Taiwan, a nearly four-fold increase from the same time last year of 178,000 metric tons (7 million bushels).

"The feed and livestock sector in Taiwan relies heavily on imports for its corn supply," said Sifferath. "Our conversations with the minister and other customers focused on how Taiwan can return to being a top five customer of U.S. corn."

Photos from this mission are available here.