By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A Mexican delegation signed a letter of intent to buy grain from Illinois farmers on Nov. 22 at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.
“I feel very good; I am very pleased to be here. We share a lot of things,” said Arturo Nieto Sanchez, Secretary of Agriculture for the State of Guanajuato.
“This signing will bring benefits to both states. We have to develop a switch from white corn to yellow corn.

“We have a market for the poultry, pork and dairy industry that depends on yellow corn.”

Sanchez added that Guanajuato hopes to partner with Illinois to develop an infrastructure for more ag-related trade.

Illinois Director of Agriculture Tom Jennings have hosted delegations from many countries recently. In October, grain buyers from El Salvador, Honduras and Peru toured Illinois agribusinesses.

Jennings said Illinois has shipped $737 million in agricultural products to Mexico and Latin America in 2009. “These are repeat customers,” Jennings added.
He indicated the Mexican delegation was hoping to learn about grain handling systems to possibly purchase the material to do this from Illinois suppliers.
“They are interested in shuttle train loaders,” Jennings reported. “It is our job in Illinois to identify sources for trading partners.”

Amparo Garza-Lang served as IDOA’s liaison to Mexico in this pact.
“It is fun to be back in Illinois,” she said. “I used to live in Chicago 30 years ago. I have lived in Mexico City for the past 14. I work for the state of Illinois and my job is to promote the State of Illinois. I always think of the mutual benefits for both states.”

Garza-Lang said white corn is Mexico’s main crop and Guanajuato hopes to import yellow corn from Illinois as well as learn how to prepare the soil to grow yellow corn. Besides the yellow corn, she said the delegation was interested in the distilled grain left over from the ethanol process for animal feed.

“Illinois agriculture is an export-dependent industry,” shared Jennings. “We ship 44 percent of our grain out of the country, and we are looking forward to establishing a long-standing friendship with the State of Guanajuato.”