Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Missouri Corn Doc, 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. Last week we talked about why the United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement or USMCA matters to corn growers. This week we're taking the conversation a step further by looking at the broader economic impact and why maintaining strong relationships with our North American neighbors and is so important for agriculture's future.
Joining us today is Jay Fisher, a corn farmer from Jefferson City, Missouri. Jay serves as an ex officio member of the Missouri Corn Board and as a Secretary Treasurer of the US Grains and Bioproducts Council. Through that role, he works directly with customers and trade partners around the world to help grow demand for U.S. corn ethanol and corn co products. Jay, thanks for joining us. And USMCA is much bigger than corn exports alone. Let's go into the broader economic impact of usmca. Can you tell us about that?
[00:01:03] Speaker B: USMCA is huge for North America. I mean it doesn't just create corn export, it creates livestock, meat, rural jobs and the list goes on and on and on.
It is absolutely vital that we have USMCA in place.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: So as we continue to discuss this economic impact and as Canada and Mexico come to the table and talk about why this deal is so important to them, what's the back and forth here? What are we trying to discuss and make sure continues with this trade deal?
[00:01:42] Speaker B: You know, a couple things that come to mind to me. Corn exports in New Mexico, I don't know if a lot of people realize that they're up 2.9% this year and ethanol exports into Canada are up 16.9% and they are our North American neighbors and we need them as trading partners. I can't emphasize how important it is to keep the agreement in place.
[00:02:08] Speaker A: And keeping it in place is just a part of the conversation. What did we learn from when this was first developed to now that we're discussing it and revising it all over again?
[00:02:21] Speaker B: We've learned that without it we have uncertainty in markets. We have got to have grower stability in our markets. Margins are tight enough the way they are. We're planting a crop this year that with the input costs the way they are, we're break even points the way it is. And by having the security of the USMCA agreement in place, we can predict more in the years to come for the security of the farmer that we're going to have those markets in place. Without it, we don't we don't have any security or stability as you were
[00:02:59] Speaker A: just talking about stability. Certainty is a big factor when we talk about usmca and you also mentioned North America is the most reliable market for agriculture when it comes to especially our corn.
Tell us about the other opportunities to add to that stability, to add to that certainty that we know there's a final destination for the product grown on our fields. What is Missouri corn doing to develop opportunities around the world?
[00:03:28] Speaker B: Missouri corn works really close with the US Grains and Bioproducts Council. You know, it's a long term investment and we don't always see, see the value of that tomorrow or six months from now or a year from now. But we're, we're creating long term investments into the stability of those markets. And you know, building relationships with Mexico and Canada is so important in. The US Grains and Bioproducts Council does an excellent job of building those relationships and they're open handedly wanting our especially corn, corn and ethanol. And we just really need to continue the investment in the future.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: As we look at the supply chain, we see there is a more benefits added from the farm gate to the final destination. We have more value added conversations going on. Tell us about that and how USMCA could support that in the future.
[00:04:35] Speaker B: It's not just about marketing corn. It's about marketing anything that has any type of relationship with corn, ethanol, everything down to plastics, anything. I mean all these are huge opportunities. You know, maybe we're not. How should I put this? Not really making the, the widget for the car, but we may be producing the plastic that makes the widget that goes to Mexico and comes back to United States as a car part. That's all huge value added. To me it all comes back to the farm gate in the end.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: Let's go over market development once more. As you were speaking of. We have trade agreements that open this door and Missouri corn and you with the US Grains and Bioproducts Council are helping to build relationships to add more demand to these products.
How can market development as well as these trade agreements work together?
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Well, without the trade agreement it's tough to have market development because you can't develop a market unless you have a secure supply chain. And that's why it's so important to have the agreement in place to assure that it's not just at the farmer level, it's whatever level it may be at for any of the consumers on either side.
[00:05:58] Speaker A: This is a long term investment. When we talk about building export markets as well as making sure USMCA stays in place and provides that certainty for farmers. Can you just go over one more time why it's important to not only review this, but have alternative ways and avenues for farmers to continue to sell their products?
[00:06:23] Speaker B: We just have to have the doors open to these markets. If we don't, every year our yields increase, the pile of corn gets bigger. And it's not just corn, it's it's everything.
And without developing new markets, we're going to be at profit margins below cost of production and we can't go on too many more. We've had two or three years in that boat and we can't really go on any longer that way. We, we need future market development.
[00:06:53] Speaker A: Jay, is there anything you'd like to add that we didn't touch on today?
[00:06:56] Speaker B: Just that it's been my honor to serve the Missouri corn farmers and US Corn farmers at the level of being Secretary treasurer at the U.S. grains Council. And I do appreciate the the support of Missouri corn and farmers all over North America.
[00:07:13] Speaker A: Jay Fisher is a corn farmer from Jefferson City, Missouri and a Secretary Treasurer of the U.S. grains and Bioproducts Council as well as an ex officio member of the Missouri Corn Growers Association. Jay, thank you so much for your time today.
[00:07:26] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:07:27] Speaker A: And as Jay shared, trade is much more than just moving grain across the border. It supports jobs, strengthens local economies, and creates demand for the products Missouri farmers work hard to produce every day. Through organizations like Missouri Corn and the US Grains and Byproducts Council, growers continue to invest in the relationships to keep the those markets strong. Thanks for listening to this conversation. This podcast is made possible by the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council and the Missouri Corn Growers Association. To learn more about Missouri corn's efforts to build demand at home and abroad, visit mocorn.org I'm David Geiger. Thanks for joining.
