U.S. Grains Crop Year “Off to a Great Start”

Ryan LeGrand, president and CEO of the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), had an optimistic story to tell about U.S. grain exports at the October virtual meeting of Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City. The U.S. crop year for exports is off to a great start, he said, in no small part because China has made a real emergence in the market.  “China is likely to be our top customer for this crop year,” he noted numerous times, “and the trade relationship [between the U.S. and China] is surviving [despite the trade war and tariffs].”

Coincidently, on the day LeGrand spoke to the Ag Business Council, USDA was finalizing its weekly trade data for the week of October 9-15 that would show China was making large-scale purchases of U.S. soybeans and corn, as well as cotton and beef. In that seven day period USDA reported the U.S. had shipped 1.96 million tons of soybeans and 363,000 tons of corn. To accent China’s debut as a major grains trading partner with the U.S., LeGrand presented figures showing that for the crop year 2018/2019 China was not even among the top ten importers of American corn. This year, however, China will be number one.

Pitching his advocacy of foreign trade, LeGrand said, “Failing to move forward on trade means falling behind.” He noted that 97.7% of the world’s population lives outside the U.S. and more than 97% of the anticipated population growth over the next 35 years will take place outside of U.S. borders.  Also, he pointed out that agriculture contributes positively to the U.S balance of trade. “U.S. agricultural exports valued at $137.4 billion in 2016 produced an additional $172.1 billion in economic activity for a total of $306.8 billion of economic output,” he said, which supported 1.1 million full-time jobs including 764,000 in the non-farm sector.   Closer to home, LeGrand said the total value of the grain trade to the Kansas economy is $2.2 billion; and $974 million to the Missouri economy.

Founded in 1960, the U.S. Grains Council is a private non-profit corporation with ten international offices and programs in more than 50 countries. Its membership includes producer organizations and agribusinesses with a common interest in developing export markets.