International grain buyers tour all things agriculture in Illinois

Posted on October 1, 2018
Twenty grain buyers from four nations are touring Illinois this week, getting a look at all things agricultural with Warren Goetsch, deputy director, IL Dept. of Ag. (WJBC File Photo)

By Dave Dahl

Illinois is showing the best of agriculture to foreign buyers on a statewide tour.

Monday morning’s itinerary included a lock and dam at Alton and GSI, a maker of grain bins in Assumption, in Christian County.

Why should you travel internationally when you can just look at a computer to see what is going on?

“The world is changing, and marketing is changing,” Warren Goetsch, deputy director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, tells WJBC News, “but I don’t believe there’s a replacement for rolling the cob and kicking the clod; actually being out there and seeing the equipment and all the other inputs we have to make the ag production in this country and in this state be successful.”

“I’m stunned by how big the fields are, lots of crops of corn being harvested,” said Ji-seong “Joshua” Kim of South Korea. He is making his first visit to Illinois, joining buyers from Peru, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic on this week’s tour.

Also on tap: farms, labs, and the Chicago Board of Trade.

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