Taiwan Goodwill Mission Visit Midwest

Taiwan is expected to purchase $3.5 billion in soybeans, corn and wheat from the United States over the next two years and last week Taiwanese delegations traveled around the Midwest to see their future purchases in progress and formalize agreements on the state levels. The groups visited a number of states, including Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri and met with corn and soybean grower organizations and state officials.

In Missouri, they met with Governor Jay Nixon and representatives of the agricultural industry and signed a Letter of Intent to purchase between 303 and 413 million bushels of American corn and up to 750,000 metric tons of distillers dried grains, with a total estimated value of up to $2.37 billion.

Iowa Corn Growers Association president Don Elsbernd met with the Taiwan delegation in his state and signed the agreement with them. “As our 4th largest customer, we see this agreement as critical to our corn industry in Iowa and we think it shows their satisfaction with the product we are providing,” he said.