U.S. Grains Council leaders travel to Mexico to improve corn trade 

By Will Margerum 

U.S. Grains Council (USGC) Chairman Brent Boydston and USGC Past Chairman and Indiana corn farmer Josh Miller went south of the border recently for meetings with major stakeholders in the U.S.-Mexico corn trade market to maintain positive communication and relationships with one of U.S. agriculture’s most valuable customers. 

Boydston and Miller arrived in Monterrey, Mexico on May 28 to join USGC Director in Mexico Heidi Bringenberg and USGC Senior Marketing Specialist Javier Chavez. That evening, the group met with staff from the U.S. Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Monterrey to coordinate future collaboration efforts in the country. The ATO works with private industry and government officials in both the U.S. and Mexico to serve as a center for U.S. export promotion and a point of contact for Mexican importers looking to purchase feed grains and other products. 

“With recent political obstacles and challenges to rail transport logistics affecting grain imports to Mexico, it’s vital for the Council to work in tandem with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service in Mexico to keep shipments moving,” Boydston said. “U.S. producers and Mexican importers and end-users alike are looking for reassurance that trade will continue operating smoothly, and it’s the Council’s duty to facilitate that goal as much as possible.” 

The delegation also met with staff from a leading global food production that offers products in 112 countries to discuss how U.S. producers can meet the company’s demand. 

The agenda then shifted to Mexico City for an extended discussion with the National Chamber of Industrialized Corn (CANAMI), an important ally to the entire U.S. agriculture industry during the ongoing process of ensuring food security and normalizing agricultural trade while complying with Mexican import restrictions. 

The program concluded in Jalisco, the largest livestock-producing state in Mexico and headquarters of the National Association of Feed Manufacturers for Animal Consumption (ANFACA), an invaluable partner to the Council for more than 30 years. The Council’s group participated in its annual industry luncheon, where attending representatives constituted 90 percent of U.S. corn exports to Mexico, to show the Council’s continuing commitment to collaboration with ANFACA and Mexican importers and producers. 

“The Council’s relationship with ANFACA over the decades has been very important both for the Council’s strategy in Mexico and for raising demand for U.S. corn to the level we see today,” Bringenberg said. “I sincerely look forward to continued successes with ANFACA and to building deeper relationships with other associations that will keep U.S. agriculture as the premier option for Mexican importers.” 

Go online to grains.org/office/Mexico to read more about the Council’s work there.