Building Relationships That Move Illinois Corn Overseas

In a recent interview with Brownfield Ag News anchor Jared White, IL Corn Director of Exports and Logistics Collin Watters talked about how the IL Corn Marketing Board helps open and protect export markets for Illinois corn, ethanol and distillers grains. He kept coming back to one idea: export markets are built on relationships.

Why Illinois is built for exports

• Every major railroad runs through the state.
• The Illinois River gives farmers across the state access to barge shipping, and it stays open year-round.
• Competitive freight gives farmers many ways to move their crop. It still needs a buyer at the other end, and finding those buyers is the work.

A Mexican white corn trade team visit

• Mexico is the top export market for Illinois corn. A train loaded in Illinois can roll almost straight to the customer.
• Last week, IL Corn and the U.S. Grains and BioProducts Council hosted a trade team that included Mexico’s top white corn millers.
• The group visited farms near Harrisburg and Fairfield and toured export terminals in St. Louis and Shawneetown.
• White corn often earns a stronger basis, and that has helped farmers in southern Illinois.
• The buyers left impressed, and they may be ready to do more business.

Farmers make the connection

• Farmer leader Pervis Ellis saved a field at his home place so the visitors could ride along in the combine.
• Collin said the buyers notice when a farmer takes time out of harvest for them, the same way they took time to come.
• Visits like this also correct the belief that U.S. farms are corporate giants. Most are family operations.
• Buyers ask about everything from sustainability and genetics to whether the government sets grain prices.

New doors for ethanol

• Canada is the top market for U.S. ethanol.
• Japan used very little ethanol a few years ago. It is now moving to an E10 blend, expects to reach E20 soon, and has plans for sustainable aviation fuel made from ethanol.
• That progress took years of regulatory work by industry, the U.S. Grains and BioProducts Council, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service and former U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel.

Why USMCA matters

• Mexican feedlots often have little storage and count on just-in-time rail deliveries. One disruption can send a customer looking elsewhere, and that customer is hard to win back.
• USMCA gives buyers confidence that trade rules will hold, and it provides a dispute panel when problems come up.
• Collin is cautiously optimistic that the agreement will be renewed. The timeline isn’t clear yet.

Follow along
To keep up with IL Corn’s export work, check out the weekly news, follow IL Corn on social media, or become a member of the IL Corn Growers Association for weekly updates.