KY Corn strategically utilizes Kentucky corn checkoff funding to enable many U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC) global success stories. By connecting Kentucky-grown corn to international markets, the USGC helps create valuable opportunities for farmers.
These relationships don’t happen overnight—they are built through years of investment from farmer-derived funds that create trust among foreign buyers from boots-on-the-ground efforts.
KY Corn supports these objectives by placing advocates in overseas markets. Checkoff funding provides the means for professional and technical staff to educate on the benefits of American corn and corn products in ways that initiate grain purchases.
USGC personnel establish relationships with grain buyers and processors in overseas markets. We then send volunteer farmer leaders into those markets to engage directly with buyers and industry leaders, and Kentucky farmer leaders host international teams on their farms to establish personal connections and develop trust among our customers. Whether it’s on foreign soil or our own, these connections are key to increasing global sales with an undeniable track record.
Ethanol to Japan
One recent example is Japan’s announcement of major updates to its ethanol policy. Through USGC projects enabled directly by KY Corn Promotion Council investment, Japan has become America’s second-largest buyer of U.S. ethanol over the past few years.
Japan’s impact on Kentucky farmers’ corn demand is also on an upward trajectory, with plans for 10 percent ethanol blending by 2030 and 20 percent blending by 2040.
We are just scratching the surface with Japan; USGC efforts are establishing a growing recognition worldwide of the environmental, public health, and economic benefits of higher ethanol blends. And, these countries are looking to U.S. corn farmers and ethanol producers to achieve these priorities.
It is our responsibility to reinforce these trends and relationships through personal engagement—face-to-face conversations, handshakes, and eye contact—here on U.S. soil. Next month, Kentucky corn farmers will host a Japanese delegation to showcase sustainable practices in American corn farming. These practices align closely with the high priority purchasing criteria of Japanese corn buyers. This visit will not only highlight our commitment to decarbonized corn production but also strengthen trust and foster lasting relationships with international partners by allowing them to see firsthand how these technologies are implemented on our farms.
Carlos Suárez, USGC’s Sustainability Director, is a member of the professional staff that KY Corn Checkoff funds place into these initiatives and efforts. He has arranged for a key group of Japanese grain millers to visit Kentucky farms in June.
Carlos will present the USGC’s Corn Sustainability Assurance Protocol (CSAP), a tool designed to give international corn buyers greater certainty into the sustainability of U.S. corn production. Last year, KY Corn invested corn checkoff funds for USGC’s Corn and Ethanol Conference in Tokyo. Mick Henderson, General Manager from Commonwealth Agri-Energy in Hopkinsville, represented us in that mission. The conference focused on deepening ties between U.S. producers and Japanese importers, and Henderson met with officials from Japan’s Ministry of Economy to help advance future trade opportunities.
Corn and DDGS to Latin America
As global demand for ethanol continues to grow, our ethanol production opportunities expand as well as the production of Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS). We work to enhance those markets as well; KY Corn recently welcomed grain and feed buyers from Mexico and Central America to demonstrate our stellar corn production, handling, and logistical capacity which enables U.S. ethanol producers to provide superior quality DDGS.
USGC recently celebrated a major win in Mexico, as the country increased its demand for DDGS, becoming the top importer of both U.S. corn and DDGS during the 2023/2024 marketing year.
KY Corn contributed to this success by hosting a Mexican white corn trade team in Fall 2023. This offered firsthand insight into our state’s grain quality, logistics capacity, and examples of GMO technology to enable those industry leaders to lobby Mexican officials about the need to carefully rethink their idea of banning GMO products from the USA. Those engagements further strengthened buyer confidence and long-term trade relationships.
Ethanol to Vietnam
Vietnam is another key market where checkoff investment and volunteer farmer leaders from Kentucky have established strong relationships. Today, because of the USGC education efforts, Vietnam blends 5 percent ethanol into some of its gasoline grades. In an effort to win more of that market, KY Corn hosted a USGC trade mission to bring a delegation of Vietnamese government officials and petroleum industry leaders to Hopkinsville, KY.
Kentucky farm leaders and partner fuel retailers arranged for these officials to observe countless consumers pumping E-10 into their cars as an everyday practice without concern; demonstrating that Vietnam’s petroleum industry has nothing to fear by moving up to an E-10 standard.
In a promising next step, some of those same industry leaders who traveled to Kentucky recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. that acknowledges the benefits of ethanol for their clean air objectives.
Our strategy, that we invest farmer dollars to achieve, is to support Vietnam’s efforts to expand blending to all grades and increase their ethanol blends beyond E-5. So far, our efforts are penetrating the mindset of Vietnamese decision-makers in a recognition of the advantages of American corn-based ethanol in its fuel supply.
At the core of every encounter, whether it’s a Kentucky farmer traveling overseas or an international delegation stepping onto U.S. soil, is the shared goal of building strong, lasting relationships in collaboration with key individuals to achieve tangible results for Kentucky corn farmers who contribute to the corn checkoff to add value to their industry.
These connections go beyond handshakes and meetings; they create trust and lay the groundwork for growing corn markets. Relationships are the cornerstone of every agreement made, every success achieved, and every bushel of corn sold.