Willmar Farmer Leads Trade Mission to South Korea

Just before Christmas, U.S. Grains Council President Chad Willis made a quick trip to South Korea and back. The Willmar, Minnesota farmer led a trade delegation. “They were so appreciative that we took time out of our schedule and with the (travel) difficulties with COVID to come over and see them face-to-face.” South Korea is the fifth largest importer of U.S. corn. “Their biggest issue is with quality and one group showed us an example of corn that came out of the Pacific Northwest,” said Willis. “That’s probably from our general area; it came from the 2019 marketing year and that was a year when you had really wet areas in the (Red River) Valley. They ordered No. 3 corn and that’s what they’re going to get.” The quality of the 2021 crop was emphasized during the trade mission. The USGC also highlighted Northern Crops Institute research on the feed value with northern-grown corn.