Gregg Doud outlines how US can capitalize on its alternatives throughout lecture at Kansas State College
10 January 2024
4 minute learn
Editor’s notice: Watch the full video of Gregg Doud’s presentation on-line.
A former US ambassador who helped to barter an iconic agricultural commerce settlement with China stated that America’s farmers have a brilliant future if the business can capitalize on obtainable alternatives for exports, know-how and value-added merchandise.
However Gregg Doud – at the moment the president and Chief Govt Officer of the Nationwide Milk Producer’s Federation – stated every has its personal set of challenges because the US balances world politics and intense competitors within the world meals market.
“You reside in a world in the present day, of us, the place complete US agricultural exports to the world are about the identical as China’s complete meals imports from the world,” stated Doud, in remarks because the tenth speaker in Kansas State College’s Henry C. Gardiner International Meals Programs lecture sequence on Oct. 9.
China, he stated, imported $236 billion in agricultural commodities in 2022, whereas the US exported $196 million.
“What occurs in China by way of meals dictates all the pieces else in the remainder of the world,” Doud stated.
For instance, China produces almost half of all hogs on this planet in the present day. In 2020, the follow of feeding meals scraps to pigs (generally known as swill feeding) was banned, which meant China instantly turned the largest corn importer on this planet.
Doud additionally famous that Chinese language customers love meat: “China is cleansing the world out of beef,” he stated. “In August, they bought an all time file excessive in beef imports from the world.”
These information converse to what the subsequent decade may appear like for US beef producers, Doud stated.
“Under no circumstances, form or kind does the availability of animal protein on this planet come anyplace close to assembly the demand,” he stated. “And if you happen to look around the globe, what do you see? Who else on this planet could make extra animal protein? It positive is just not going to be the Europeans…the Chinese language, Japanese or Asians.”
The identical is true, he famous, for the dairy business in the US.
“Of us, the one place on Earth that may come even near (assembly future demand) is the US. So, I say, let’s go. Let’s get in on this; that is the longer term. That is the place it’s at.”
Doud stated Brazil is dominating corn and soybean manufacturing, however an space during which the US can succeed is in producing soybeans for renewable diesel gasoline, versus meals.
“Within the close to future, we’re going to be making an entire lot extra soybean oil – crushing it for oil, truly, fairly than for the meal. And we’re going to have a mountain of soybeans to the purpose the place I heard a dialog the opposite day that we could possibly be taking a look at soybean meal at $150 (a tonne). For agriculture on this nation, that’s fascinating.”
Doud additionally touched on quite a few know-how developments in agriculture, together with biosensing and spraying know-how, robotics within the dairy business, genomics, autonomous semis that might minimize transportation prices by 70%, and plenty of extra.
“The know-how that now we have coming in agriculture is unbelievable,” he stated, however added that “we are able to’t get the (authorities) to approve a few of our know-how, which suggests the blokes that invested within the know-how can’t get it commercialized. It is a holdup for our nation. We’ve got acquired to get our authorities to the purpose the place they approve this know-how so we are able to transfer ahead.”
Born in Mankato, Kansas, Doud earned undergraduate and graduate levels from Kansas State College earlier than embarking on a profession that features serving as a market analyst for US Wheat Associates, chief economist for the Nationwide Cattlemen’s Beef Affiliation and president of the Commodity Markets Council. Between 2020 and August of this yr, Doud was vice chairman of worldwide situational consciousness and chief economist with Aimpoint Analysis, a worldwide, strategic alliance that makes a speciality of agri-food. He was additionally a senior employees member of the US Senate Agriculture Committee that wrote the 2012 Senate Farm Invoice.
His full discuss – titled ‘The Way forward for Agricultural Commerce, Geopolitics and Meals’ – is on the market to view on-line.
Kansas State College established the Henry C. Gardiner International Meals Programs lecture sequence to offer science-based schooling about world meals points. The lecture sequence is funded by the Gardiner household of Ashland, Kansas. Henry C. Gardiner, who handed away simply days earlier than the primary lecture in 2015, was generally known as a visionary chief who devoted his profession to bettering the meat business by science and know-how.
