Iowa Corn Farmers Support International Trade Development

Iowa corn farmers understand the importance of strong trade relationships and dedicate countless hours fostering new and existing relationships each year. The Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) focuses on exporting value-added products such as corn-fed red meat, ethanol, DDGS and corn gluten feed as well as whole kernel corn to best serve our international customers and create new and maintain trade markets. The ICPB invests with the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) to build demand, improve lives and enable trade. One tool that USGC and ICPB use to create new opportunities and further develop existing international markets for U.S. corn and corn products is trade missions to bring together buyers and sellers.  Recently, two Iowa corn farmers went on trade missions; learn more about each of their experiences below.  

Dan Keitzer 

Dan Keitzer, Iowa Corn Growers Association District 9 Director and farmer from Mediapolis, Iowa, traveled to the Philippines to attend the Ag Supply Chain Conference.  Buyers and sellers from across Southeast Asia met to discuss corn and DDGS export opportunities and create new sales agreements. At the conference, Keitzer shared details about his farming operation and the farming practices he implements to raise corn sustainably and responsibly. 

While there, he also met with ethanol retailers. Philippines recently moved to a discretionary E20 blend and Jetti Petroleum is the nation’s first retail location offering E20. Keitzer had the opportunity to visit the Jetti Petroleum station, as well as the construction site of the second station that would offer the 20% blend of ethanol to drivers. A major initiative of the USGC work is to build global demand for ethanol to improve the quality of lives around the world and more importantly create new demand opportunities for U.S. corn farmers.  

“It was impressive to see how interested the buyers at the conference were in how we grow corn and how we use cutting-edge technology to grow the crop in a sustainable way. The Southeast Asia region is home to 8.5% of the world’s people and the population continues to increase so it is very important to market our corn and corn products such as ethanol and DDGS to that region of the world.” 

Paul Gieselman 

Farmer from Morning Sun, Iowa, and Iowa Corn Promotion Board District 9 Director, Paul Gieselman, traveled to the Japan 2024-25 Corn Quality Control Rollout Mission and Outlook Conference in Tokyo, Japan. The conference was hosted by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) Japan. 

While at the event, he sat on a panel with USGC Director of Global Programs Administration Stella Qian and Missouri Corn Merchandising Council Vice Chair Dylan Rosier. Together, they spoke and answered questions about the quality, applications and availability of U.S. corn to serve our Japanese customers. 

Outside the conference, the USGC’s delegation met with U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service staff based in Japan, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The group also toured a local wet milling facility to learn about the feed requirements and logistics involved to best serve the Japanese market.