Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Missouri Corn Talk, your go to weekly agriculture podcast delivering fast, reliable updates on market development efforts, ethanol demand, and the issues shaping today's corn industry. I'm your host, David Geiger. For Missouri corn farmers, few trade agreements matter more than the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, better known as usmca. Together, Mexico and Canada represent our largest export markets for corn, ethanol, distillers, grain and meat products fed by US Corn. As the agreement enters a critical review period, corn growers are working to ensure these markets remain strong and reliable for the years to come. Joining us today is Missouri Corn Growers Association Vice President Dylan Rozier, a corn farmer from Mound City, Missouri. Dylan also serves on the board of the US Grains and Bioproducts Council where he works on international development markets that help create demand for Missouri corn around the globe. Dylan, thank you so much for joining us today. And let's jump into usmca. The agreement, it's one of the most important demand drivers for corn growers. Why is it so important to talk about right now?
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Yeah, thanks for having me, David. USMCA is greatly important for us, especially here in Missouri, just because of where we're located and kind of our connection down to Mexico. But USMCA has been great and it really gives us a solid footing as growers to know that we have a large demand for our products.
I think just Mexico alone has set a record last year just for corn Exports was around 25 and a half million metric tons. And they're on pace to top that again next year. And if you go north of us, where Canada's turned into our, our biggest ethanol partners. So I mean, just those, those numbers alone are hugely important for us as growers here in the middle of the nation.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: When you talk about that amount, 25 and a half million metric tons, what does that mean then directly for producers like you who are able to have better opportunities, more opportunities to get your grain out there and out of the bins?
[00:02:00] Speaker B: Yeah, it's kind of a built in demand for us because they like our product and because of the, the efficiencies with our logistics. I mean, our rail systems connected. A lot of that runs right down across the border, right into some, those very large feedlots that are kind of right across the border there in Mexico.
And it's, it's definitely important for us to keep that, keep that trade flow in that direction. We probably take it for granted just how important that is and how much that's kind of built into our price that we kind of see here in Missouri, because there's, there's a lot of product that goes that direction. I think Mexico alone makes up like roughly 12% of our, our total exports. So it's a huge market for us and that we really need to protect.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: I think you mentioned it earlier as well, but something emphasizes the certainty that it provides as well. As you said, they're neighbors. It's easy to get grain there than it is to countries across the ocean.
Why is it important to maintain a level of certainty when it comes to such a big partner?
[00:03:04] Speaker B: The biggest thing we need is producers right now is some certainty. I mean, you've seen all kinds of volatility in the market, from fertilizer to grain prices to just a lot because of the, the worldwide events that are going on.
And as a producer that's, that's hard to manage around. I mean, you're dealing with some black swan events that pop up here and there and kind of throw you a curveball and you just, it's hard to figure out and know exactly what to do in those situations. But being able to maintain these relationships with Mexico and Canada, knowing that we have a source to the south that we can send 25 plus million metric tons of corn to and we're going to top probably a billion gallons of ethanol into Canada. This, you know, that gives us a little bit of ease here in the middle of the country that we know we, we have some demand there that we can certainly build upon and, and keep growing on those. And that's, I mean, me as a producer, that's, that is extremely important in my mind to keep that and know that we have that source for our products.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: Now. Trade benefits extend past the farm gate. USMCA related corn Demand is about $20 billion in economic active activity. It's about 71,000 jobs. So it's more than just the farmer, even though the farmer is benefited by it as well.
How can we talk about this in terms of something more than just farmers for folks who. That may not be enough to sway them on the importance of this?
[00:04:32] Speaker B: Yeah, we're obviously talking very concentrated on the ag part of this. But USMCA is, I mean, it encompasses all trade products across the board. So we lose that, that certainty for those, not just ag, but everything that we, that we produce kind of here in the Midwest. You're going to see that in our little communities. I think, obviously again, we're very focused on ag. But you know, down the road, the long term, if you lost that uncertainty and we lose some price, you're going to see that in some tax revenue and there are small counties and honestly we can't afford that by any means. And it just, I think it's just kind of accumulating effect that it'll kind of trickle down eventually. And we need, we definitely need that firm footing of that agreement there so we can trade freely back and forth across the border.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Now obviously having big partners like Mexico, Canada, very important.
But we also understand there's a bit of risk to having such huge relationships. As soybean growers will tell you, China had some problems. So building export markets in is also a big priority for Missouri corn farmers. Tell me about that side of the investment as we continue to emphasize importance of maintaining what we already have.
[00:05:46] Speaker B: Yeah, the way I kind of look at it, like we really have to keep that relationship with our, our neighbors because it is very, very important. And there's a lot of efficiencies there that we can't give up. But just like you mentioned, there's also kind of a double, double edged sword there. You don't want to be too reliant on that. You still have to expand out and find more sources for your products.
And that's where Missouri corn is really put an emphasis on like building new markets and investing in the US Grains Bioproducts Council and what they do across the globe. And you're seeing that in our exports. Now the US Grains Bioproducts Council, we go in and basically facilitate sales. We don't directly make sales, but we go in and kind of facilitate that relationship and build those markets in countries across the globe. And like you said, you're seeing that especially on the ethanol side. If you look at the ethanol numbers, they have skyrocketed and a lot of that's due to Latin America is putting in some blending mandates that the grant Council has done a lot of work down in that area you see in Southeast Asia really grow. Look at Japan's numbers. They put, they're trying to get to E30 here pretty quickly. And also Canada, I mean Canada's grown to a billion plus gallon export marker on the ethanol side. And I mean that's just one really good example where the Council's kind of put some, put some work in and put a lot of funding towards that to expand those markets. Along with that you got DDGs. I mean making all this ethanol, that byproduct's got to go somewhere. And you're seeing us continue to build those markets and find an outlet for that as well.
And that's again kind of Just puts more certainty in the, in the growers in the Midwest and in across the country too. They know we got somewhere to go with our products.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Grower engagement is a big part of the Missouri Corn growers.
Missouri Corn national corn growers. There's 160 agriculture organizations across the US trying to keep up the conversation on USMCA. Tell me about ways folks who are listening can participate, how they can join, how they can ensure that there's going to be this uncertainty of trade agreements with close neighbors.
[00:07:51] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's extremely important, you know, reach out to your, your senator, your representative in your area and just express how important our involvement in USMCA is.
And you can also go to NCGA's website and sign up and sign a petition just showing support for the usmca. There's been a lot of things in the news and it can go a lot of direction, it kind of sounds like. But they're going to have this first review here in the first of July. So now's the time to do it and show your support for it because it definitely will affect us here in the Midwest and in Missouri. And in my opinion, I think we need, to, need to have a good relationship with our partners here in North America for sure.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Missouri Corn Growers Association Vice President Dylan Rozier with us. Thank you so much for your time today.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: Hey, thanks, David. Appreciate being here.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: And strong export markets do not happen by accident. Whether it's through Missouri Corn, the National Corn Growers association, or partners like the US Grains and Bioproducts Council. These efforts are helping protect demand for Missouri corn today while creating opportunities for the future. That's it for this week's Missouri Corn Talk. This podcast is made possible by the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council and the Missouri Corn Growers Association. To learn more about the work being done on behalf of Missouri corn farmers, visit mocorn.org I'm David Geiger. Thanks for listening.
