Minnesota Ag Connection - Next Generation of Taiwanese Swine Producers Visit U.S.

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Next Generation of Taiwanese Swine Producers Visit U.S.
Minnesota Ag Connection - 06/30/2016

A U.S. Grains Council (USGC) trade team of Taiwanese swine producers, government officials, researchers and association representatives visited Iowa and Minnesota to familiarize themselves with both modern U.S. swine production practices and the U.S. grains industry. As part of the mission, they toured the diversified production farm of Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) Director Kelly Niewenhuis from O'Brien County. ICPB invests Iowa corn checkoff dollars and provides in-kind support to UCGC activities which work to build and expand demand for corn in all forms.

Spending a majority of their time attending the World Pork Expo, the team also visited various agricultural businesses and production plants such as the DuPont Pioneer Research & Development Center, JBS wean-to-finish barn and feedmill, Kinze Innovation Center, Little Sioux Corn Processors, and the Spencer Ag Center.

"The Taiwanese seemed impressed with the quality of Iowa's corn, and said this corn looked like better quality than what they typically buy," said Niewenhuis. "Brazil and China are the major competitors for the Taiwanese corn market as U.S. corn is seen as a premium product costing more." Niewenhuis brought the team to his corn hybrid test plot and let them climb his grain bin to get a true, first-hand experience of the high quality corn he is able to produce. These opportunities helped team members, who are grain end-users, gain a greater confidence in the United States' ability to supply them with high-quality corn.

Niewenhuis also operates a 4,000 hog finishing facility, but clarified to the team that no tours were allowed because of biosecurity reasons. "The Taiwanese explained their country's lack of biosecurity, so they understood and appreciated our safety measures" said Niewenhuis. The next generation of Taiwanese swine producers were interested in the updated technology used in hog production in the United States as well as the advantages of feeding high quality feed in swine rations.

Taiwan was the sixth largest market for U.S. corn, eleventh largest market for U.S. DDGS and fourth largest market for U.S. barley during the 2014/2015 marketing year. The USGC is a private, non-profit organization that works to develop exports in more than 50 countries from 10 worldwide offices and its Washington, D.C., headquarters.

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