Grainnet

USGS Hosts Japanese Barley Buyers

This article is reprinted from the U.S. Grain Council August 7 Global Update.

Japanese Buyers See U.S. Barley Industry Firsthand. The U.S. Grains Council is hosting a Japanese feed barley team in the United States this week.

Team members have been meeting with producers and industry representatives in an effort to gain firsthand information on the 2008 U.S. barley crop, supply and demand situation.

“The team will share what they’ve learned with representatives in the Japanese feed barley industry and based on this information, the industry will increase procurement of U.S. barley under Japan’s simultaneous buy and sell barley system,” said Hiroko Sakashita, USGC associate director in Japan.

Sakashita has been escorting the group as they travel to major barley growing states including North Dakota, Montana, Washington and Idaho.

While in North Dakota, Tim Potter, senior barley merchandiser with Council member CHS, briefed the team on the current status of supply and demand factors impacting barley before the group toured a commercial barley production operation at the Jim Howe farm near Casselton, N.D.

“The team was very impressed with the vastness of the field and the quality of the barley,” said USGC Chairman Jim Broten of the North Dakota Barley Council, which hosted the group.

“They saw grain storage facilities and three different barley varieties. The group also had a lot of questions, especially about how contracting is done in the United States.”

The team also learned about the barley production process from planting through harvest.

“Their visit provided a chance for them as buyers to learn about us, their suppliers,” said Steve Edwardson, executive administrator of the North Dakota Barley Council.

“I also think they gained a better understanding of the complexity of production agriculture.”

Edwardson said hosting trade teams such as the Japanese barley delegation is of great value to North Dakota farmers as it gives them a better understanding about how their customers use their product and how the farmer and buyer can work together to develop mutually beneficial business, a key ingredient in relationship building, he said.