To U.S. Grains Council Members:

While there are always challenges, U.S. agriculture today is thriving, and agricultural trade is one of America’s most dynamic export sectors. The importance of this cannot be overstated: 95 percent of the world’s population lives outside our borders, and a rapidly growing global middle class will drive increased food demand for decades to come. U.S. agricultural exports set a new record in 2011, with the largest agriculture trade surplus in U.S. history. Simply stated, agriculture is one of the shining stars of U.S. international trade.

The U.S. Grains Council plays a key role in that success. The Council’s efforts have helped U.S. farmers and agribusinesses dominate the global corn trade, capture two-thirds of global sorghum markets, solidify marketing channels for barley and develop growing markets for distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn gluten feed. Both at home and abroad, the Council actively promotes the value of trade and provides opportunities to build relationships that open and maintain markets, enhance food security, promote sound trade policies and provide customers with reliable, accurate information.

In 2011, the Council’s theme was “The Year of Competitiveness,” as we focused on issues critical to defending and building the United States’ global exports in the future. Transportation and infrastructure; trade policy constraints; new products, technologies and markets; and increasing capacity to meet future global demand are all key factors. Yet we also recognized we must look at the Council itself – an appropriate and sensible action for our 51st year as an organization.

With this in mind, we took a deep look within every facet of the Council. We developed and adopted a new Strategic Plan. We conducted a strategic review of the Council’s global structure in light of evolving market conditions and committed to a long-term repositioning of the Council’s assets. We launched an inside-out branding and strategic communications initiative to develop an organization better oriented to meet the new challenges of the 21st century.

Of course we must also highlight a few successes from 2011 – the continued emergence of China as a major corn importer and its position as the number one buyer of all U.S. agricultural products; the passage of three trade agreements that will benefit many sectors of the U.S. economy, including agriculture; the continued adoption and acceptance of crop biotechnology in many countries around the world; a reworked sorghum levy in the European Union; and completion of the first corn quality survey in U.S. Grains Council history. You can read more about these in this online annual report.

Also during 2011, we finalized plans to collocate offices with the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) staff based in Washington, D.C. This move took place in January 2012 and is a tremendous opportunity for the Council to work seamlessly with NCGA.

Thank you for supporting the U.S. Grains Council in 2011 and going forward. We are working hard to make the Council an even more effective organization, and the payoff is big: when trade works, the world wins. Your investment and active participation help make that possible, and make a real difference for many people both in the United States and around the world.

Dr. Wendell Shauman
Chairman

Thomas C. Dorr
President & CEO