In late October, a delegation of seven Taiwanese customers was in the U.S. to better understand the American corn industry. As part of its visit, the team traveled to Nebraska and saw several different aspects of the state's corn value chain.

"We know that 95% of the world's population lives outside of the U.S.," says David Bruntz, chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board and a farmer from Friend, Neb. "We also know that we grow a lot more corn than we can use. We need to ensure we have reliable trading partners to ensure markets for our corn and corn-related products."

The Taiwanese delegation represented a variety of customers and industry leaders, including livestock producers, feed millers, corn traders and government officials. The group began its visit in Illinois and toured a grain-loading facility, corn farms and a local elevator.

Once in Nebraska, the trade team visited Farmers Cooperative in Firth, Nerud Farms in Dorchester, Flint Hills Resources in Fairmont, and met with Gavilon in Lincoln. The team completed its week in Washington by visiting grain export terminals to see how corn and corn-related products are shipped outside of the U.S.

"We know we produce quality ag products in Nebraska," says Dan Nerud, president of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association and a farmer from Dorchester. "We can grow and produce all of the quality products in the world, but if we don't have anyone to buy our commodities, it doesn't matter. Therefore, trade matters. We always need to be working on enhancing relationships with our friends around the globe."

The Taiwanese visit was the third trade mission the Nebraska Corn Board has hosted since September. The state's top two corn customers, Mexico and Japan, were in Nebraska earlier this fall. Each trade team was hosted through collaborations with the U.S. Grains Council.

Source: Nebraska Corn Board, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.