Developing a long-term market for U.S. coarse grains like sorghum requires informational exchanges over years as industries grow, markets shift and new generations of business leaders join the ranks.
As part of this effort in Mexico, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) brought a team of young leaders working in the Mexican livestock industry to Texas and Kansas this month to gain firsthand knowledge of the U.S. grain marketing and handling systems.
A majority of the team’s members work for companies in the Mexican state of Jalisco, represented by the National Association of Food Manufacturers for Animal Consumption (ANFACA). Jalisco is the top-producing state for eggs, broilers, hogs, cattle and dairy. Two additional participants represented the Mexican Association of Specialists in Animal Production (AMEPA) from the states of Sonora and Michoacán.
“USGC has worked with these two associations for a long time, making participants from their companies the best options for the Mexican sorghum team,” says Patricia Esqueda, USGC western Mexico marketing specialist, who accompanied the team. “Our goal was for these young leaders to establish direct relations with grain producers or cooperatives to become more efficient at importing grain from the United States.”
USGC and partner organizations in the U.S. sorghum industry, including the United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP), organized the team to offer a farm-to-port learning experience of the U.S. grain production, marketing and transportation systems. The team visited farms in both states, state-of-the-art cooperative facilities, an ethanol plant and port facilities.
Learn more about USGC's work to promote sorghum in Mexico here.
