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East meets Midwest as Japanese corn buyers visit Hoosier farms

 

 

By SUSAN BLOWER

Indiana Correspondent

 

MIDDLETOWN, Ind. — Seeking assurance on the quality and reliability of U.S. corn, a Japanese delegation of buyers toured a farm in Middletown last week, as well as POET Biorefining, Dow AgroSciences and Kokomo Grain Co.

After visiting an export elevator and Russell Marine, the delegates arrived in Indianapolis Oct. 6. "We toured a shipyard and learned about the quality and testing of corn. It makes me confident about the quality assurance of U.S. corn and comfortable to use U.S. corn," said Nobuyuki Harada, a sales manager at Nosan Corp., a feed mill in Japan.

"I’m interested to see how corn is grown and harvested in the U.S.," added Harada, on his first tour of U.S. farms.

Though Japan is the top customer of U.S. corn exports, buyers there don’t know how corn is grown or transported, said Tetsuo Hamamoto, director of the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) for Japan, who also served as interpreter. He said Japan is an advanced country and, like Western Europe, resistant to bioengineered crops.

"Time is allocated to Dow AgroSciences to address the question of reliability and safety of biotech crops that all of our American farmers use," Hamamoto explained. "This is the youngest group (of Japanese leaders) that we’ve had on this tour."

The USGC, which led the trade mission, is a private nonprofit partnership of farmers and agribusinesses committed to expanding international markets for U.S. corn, barley, sorghum and their co-products. Twelve representatives from Japanese feed and processing industries and corn trade participated.

A member of USGC, Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) hosted the Hoosier leg of the tour. The delegation visited Howell Family Farms in Middletown, where co-owner David Howell said all farmers need to get involved in marketing.

"Japan is our largest customer of corn. They’ve been loyal for many years," he said. "It’s important we take time to visit and answer questions about GMO (genetically modified) and sustainability issues. It’s important that everybody be involved and willing to promote the product."

Howell’s corn goes to nearby ethanol plants and feed mills in the Southeast. "The corn products from our farm go to Japan in the form of pork, poultry and DDGs. We have way too much capacity in this country. The economics of farming drive us to produce more than domestic consumers need. Trade helps consume our product.

"Japan’s issue is food and assured delivery. They are much more laid-back this year. They were nervous in 2012 during the drought," he recalled.

Then, Japan was forced to seek other sources of corn. Now, U.S. farmers must fight to maintain their market share, according to ICMC. The goal of the tour is to help corn purchasers see the reliability of supply, said Ed Ebert, new director of grain marketing for ICMC and Indiana Soybean Alliance.

This year’s average yield in Indiana is 156 bushels per acre, as compared to last year’s 188. Still, supply will not be short of demand, he said.

"These are managers of food and feed and users of our products. We are developing a personal link that they don’t get from other suppliers, so when it comes to making decisions about where to buy, it’s not just price that’s important," Ebert said. "Howell Family Farms is a great example of diversified farms."

David and Mary Howell built their farm and it is being run by their sons, Adam and Aaron, now co-owners. Daughter Audrey also helps manage the farm.

"We have five crops: children, corn, soybeans, pumpkins and tomatoes," Howell told the Japanese visitors. "Harvest began August 10 on tomatoes, and we hope to be done in early November with the corn and soybeans."

Corn yields are spotty in Indiana. Howell said their land is yielding anywhere from 30-200 bushels.

Howell took the group to a test field by Purdue University, which is trying to determine the optimal time to apply nitrogen, he said. "We try to be good stewards of the land, and we’ve always been good stewards. We just get criticized for it now. We are under pressure from our government to control fertilizer runoff."

The Howells began in July to use new software, Granular, to better manage their extensive farm. Chief Financial Officer Shannon Merling, technology coordinator, demonstrated how it is used to the Japanese delegates.

"We are a larger family farm. We have already transferred ownership to the next generation. We hope it goes on a long time," Howell said.

The trade team also visited David and Teresa Gottbrath’s farm near New Pekin. "Our export customers are really interested in seeing where the products they buy are coming from, and visits like this allow them not only to see the crops in the field but also meet the farmers growing the corn and ask questions about our farms and management practices," said David Gottbrath, ICMC vice president.

"An important role of the corn checkoff is building markets for our corn and corn co-products and we believe export markets, not only for corn but also DDGs and other corn co-products, are going to continue to be important for corn farmers here in Indiana and across the U.S."

10/14/2015