From Illinois Farmer Today:
U.S. producers tour a retail outlet in Cartagena, Colombia, during the U.S. Meat Export Federationââ ¬â„¢s Latin American Product Showcase in July. Photo courtesy Mark Read
Midwest farmers are popping up in Panama, Egypt, Colombia and South Korea more often these days.
Grain and livestock farmers frequently travel with national organizations and state commodity groups to explore export opportunities and to tout the value of U.S. commodities.
Mark Read, a central Illinois corn and soybean farmer, says his time has been well spent on trade missions representing the U.S. Soybean Export Council and Illinois Soybean Association.
“We need exports other than to China,” he said.
Since 60% of Illinois soybeans are exported, if something goes wrong with the main trading partner, there need to be other strong markets for soybeans, he said.
Read was in Egypt this year when the Soy Excellence Center celebrated its 100th workforce training session there. In this case, the training helped Fish World workers cut costs in feeding tilapia by 25%. And at the University of Cairo, students celebrated getting their SEC certificates in poultry production.