A delegation of Iowa agricultural leaders from various farm and commodity organizations recently traveled to Viet Nam and Philippines during a trade team mission to explore the opportunities for enhancing more agricultural trade to the region. Peter Brecht of Central City, Iowa and a leader with the Iowa Corn Promotion Board was with the trade team. Brecht says he was impressed with the number of people living in southeast Asia, and he believes the region holds great opportunity to expand corn exports.
Brecht serves as the chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board Export and Grain committee, and he sees the benefits of meeting face to face with potential buyers of U-S corn.
Brecht says both Viet Nam and Philippines consumes a lot of pork and they buy much of their corn from Brazil and Argentina to feed their pigs. He says current tariffs prevent the U-S farmer from being competitive, but Brecht believes that could change in the future.
Two other farmers from the Iowa Corn Growers Association were on the trade team, as were representatives from the Iowa Soybean Association, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Beef Industry Council, and the Iowa Farm Bureau. The trade team was led by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.
