Twenty farmers and grain buyers from six countries, including China, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic, participated in the Illinois Department of Agriculture Grain Tour last week in an effort to increase the state’s grain industry export sales. 

“The export of Illinois grain is vital to the growth of our industry,” says Illinois Agriculture Director Raymond Poe. “Nearly half of the corn and soybeans produced in our state are exported, resulting in billions in direct sales annually. The Illinois Grain Tour gives the department the opportunity to showcase world-class facilities located right here in Illinois to foreign investors.”

The IDOA tracks sales from grain tour participants, and transactions may occur years after the tour, says IDOA’s International Marketing Representative Bobby Dowson. The grain tour has generated over $230 million in sales of grain, oilseeds, distillers dried grains and equipment since 2012.

The tour
Participants met with IDOA representatives before embarking on their nine-stop tour, including: Melvin Place Lock and Dam, Alton; National Corn to Ethanol Research Center, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville; Tim Seifert Farms, Auburn; GSI, Assumption; ADM, Decatur; Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Bloomington; Marquis Energy, Hennepin; Seedburo Equipment Co., Des Plaines; CME Traders Group, Chicago; and the Illinois Soybean Association Chicago office.

During the three-hour stop on his farm, Tim Seifert fielded questions from the tour group about technology, yield, cost per acre, breakeven numbers and proximity to delivery points.

“The amount of [grain] production in Illinois is amazing,” said Gilberto Guandique, tour participant. Guandique is a supply chain manager for an El Salvador animal feed company, and he hoped to learn more about how grain moves from Illinois farms to his company.

“One of their big concerns is quality off the combine versus how it’s delivered,” Seifert explains. “They said they can get better quality from Argentina or Brazil because of excessive handling here [in the U.S.]”

Guandique said the difference between Seifert’s harvested grain and the final product was staggering.

“It was like gold for us, and we don’t receive it like that,” he noted, as he learned that grain is typically blended at least three times before traveling to its final destination.

Guandique plans to follow up with his supplier to address quality concerns, including the color of the DDGs. “We’re told that the color is not easy to control, and that it does not impact quality,” he explained. “We want to understand for sure that that’s the case.”

Timing is another challenge.

“It’s amazing how long it takes to get grain,” Guandique noted. “We wait a long time to get grain.”

Dowson said the lock-and-dam visit helped tour participants understand the long barge journey from Illinois to New Orleans, and then down to South America. 

“It helped them understand the total journey from the farm to them,” he said. “You could see the lightbulb go off; they started to understand.”

This was the IDOA’s 20th international grain tour.