Delegation from Thailand visits Indiana to review farm products 

Developing new markets for all Indiana-grown agricultural products is a never-ending effort for the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC). 

On June 29, a delegation from the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, D.C., led by H.E. Dr. Suriya Chindawongse, Ambassador of Thailand to the United States, visited the ISA office in Indianapolis to learn more about the products that Hoosier farmers produce.  

Thailand plans to purchase agricultural products, including feed corn, soybean meal and dried distiller grains with solubles (DDGs), worth an estimated value of $2.6 billion per year. The Thai private sector recently signed Memorandums of Understanding with the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council (USGBC) and U.S. corn exporters to support imports of U.S. corn, in line with the Thai government’s annual import quota of up to 1 million tons. 

“Indiana is one of the states I want to recommend having a relationship with as part of the $2.6 billion that we’re hoping to purchase from the United States,” the ambassador said. Indiana was the third state that this delegation has visited. 

Led by ISA and ICMC CEO Courtney Kingery and Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) Director Don Lamb, leaders from nearly all of the state’s commodity programs met and talked with the delegation from Thailand. The Hoosier leaders include Indiana Pork Producers Association CEO Josh Trenary, American Dairy Association Indiana CEO Jenni Browning, Indiana Beef Council Executive Vice President Brian Shuter, Indiana Poultry President Rebecca Eifert Joniskan, Agribusiness Council of Indiana CEO Melissa Rekeweg, ISDA Director of Economic Development Drew Sherman and other leaders. 

Later, Ambassador Chindawongse talked with POET ethanol Regional Marketing Manager Aaron Kuhn, Fischer Seeds/Fischer Food Grade Co-owner Bryan Fischer, and ISA directors David Hardin, a farmer from Avon, Ind.; and Larry Rusch, a farmer from Vincennes, Ind. 

Kuhn said he understood that the ethanol market may not be strong in Thailand, but POET also produces dried distillers’ grains (DDGs) that could be delivered in containers to ports that can’t handle larger ships. 

Fischer told the ambassador, “We export soybean to several Asian countries that are used for soy drinks, soy sauce and tofu. We also export food-grade corn, both white and yellow.” 

Hardin and Rusch discussed growing conditions this crop season and optimism of producing a strong crop. 

Kingery thanked Ambassador Chindawongse and expressed an interest in meeting again. 

“As we continue to have these foundational conversations, I thank you for your willingness to recommend Indiana to be one of those potential origin markets you’re considering,” she said.