International visitors follow supply chain

CHICAGO — The farm-to-port export chain from Illinois to Oregon and beyond was the focus of a recent tour for 12 South Koreans hosted by Kansas State University’s International Grains Program.

Course participants visited farms, a historic site, commodity traders, country elevator, ethanol facility, rail and river terminal facilities, lock and dam, intermodal and container loading facilities, export terminal, and other supply chain pieces.

Course manager Guy Allen, senior economist for the IGP Institute at K-State, and central Illinois native, led the group.

“Our mission is to promote the export and use of U.S. corn, soybeans, wheat, grain sorghum and their products, which would be ethanol, soybean oil, DDGs, soybean meal, the whole range of products derived from those crops,” Allen said.

“This particular short course was our grain export supply chain expedition. The previous week, I had my grain purchasing and procurement course. The grain supply chain expedition course is usually a companion course that I usually hold after the grain purchasing and procurement course.

“The course is basically to familiarize people with the U.S. grain export supply chain of which most of that goes out of the U.S. center Gulf of Mexico, but also a good amount out the Pacific Northwest. Most of it moves by water, but a lot of it moves by rail, as well.

“The goal was to introduce them to the supply chain so they understand U.S. logistics, the cost structures and how things work in the U.S.”

The tour started in Chicago with a visit with the CME Group, Cunningham Commodities, and Advance Trading.

“Then we basically followed the Illinois River down to St. Louis,” Allen said.

Downstate stops began at the Joliet Container Logistic Center, DeLong Grain Co., and Marquis Grain.

The group arrived at the Jim Martin family farm near Wenona, where the fifth-generation farmer gave an update on spring planting and local agriculture.

Martin hosted the visitors on behalf of the Illinois Soybean Association, where he serves as a district director. He’s also an American Soybean Association director.

Robert Sinkler, Corn Belt Ports executive coordinating director, met with the group in Peoria.

“He’s got a good understanding of the whole structure of the Mississippi River system and, coming from the Army Corps of Engineers, how that works,” Allen said.

“Corn Belt Ports is supported by corn and soybean growers from a number of states — Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri.”

Historic Site

On April 24, the group traveled to Delavan to visit the Reid’s Yellow Dent Corn Monument.

Reid’s Yellow Dent corn was developed by Robert Reid in 1847 and further improved by his son, James Reid, from 1870 to 1900. The Tazewell County farm is designated as the birthplace of open-pollinated corn production.

After years of selecting the best plants and best ears and using them for open-pollination, the end result — Reid’s Yellow Dent Corn — greatly out-produced most varieties in the late 1800s.

“That corn is still the foundation genetics for about 85% of the corn produced in the Midwest,” Allen said.

“Matt Shipton, Reid’s great-great-grandson, works in corn genetics in the seed industry and met with the international visitors and discussed the history of the site and his ancestors’ role in modernizing corn production.

“My connection is my great-uncle in the 1950s helped put that monument in place. I always make it a point when I’m bringing a group through central Illinois not far from there to stop there because those seed genetics are scattered worldwide.

“Bill and Scott Jeckel of Delavan were our two grower visits and they talked about corn production, planting. It was a bit of a challenge getting growers this time of year.

“They were out planting corn and busy, busy. They did get little bit of rain at the time, so they weren’t as pressured as they otherwise would have been.”

The next stop was Encompass Grain at Allen Station, west of San Jose, where the elevator has a 100-car train loader on the Union Pacific Railway.

That was followed by a visit to the Melvin Price Lock and Dam and tour of the National Great Rivers Museum at Alton.

Pacific Northwest

“This year, because I had 12 Koreans in the group, we went to the Pacific Northwest. Korea brings a lot of their grain off of the West Coast, particularly at the moment with the low water situation in the Panama Canal and the increased cost of transiting that canal, a lot of U.S. grain exports have now shifted to the West Coast, particularly anything going to Asia,” Allen said.

“From a market point of view, that’s why we’ve seen a very strong basis in the Pacific Northwest and a weak basis in the center Gulf.

“U.S. exports are lagging behind for a number of reasons, but we are seeing strength in the Pacific Northwest values just because of the Panama Canal situation.

“So, we went to the PNW where we visited the United Grain Corporation terminal. We also had an explanation on the Columbia and Snake River systems and that situation.

“We were hosted by Shaver Barge, Portland, Oregon. They took us out of the river on one of their tugs for an hour.”

The group also met with Oregon Wheat Commission and U.S. Wheat Associates and visited the Wheat Marketing Center and the Federal Grain Inspection Service in Portland.

Allen acknowledged the support he received from Martin and the ISA, as well as from Collin Watters, Illinois Corn Growers Association director of exports and logistics.