INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, U.S. – The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) signed an agreement on Sept. 23 for the Taiwan Feed Industry Association (TFIA) to buy corn and soybean from Indiana.

In total, the TFIA agreed to buy 5 million tonnes, or approximately 197 million bushels of corn and 500,000 tonnes of corn co-products, such as distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGs), between 2020 and 2021.

The total estimated value of this agreement reaches $1.1 billion. Signing the deal with TFIA were ICMC President Mike Beard and ICMC Board Director Joshua Miller.

“International trade is essential to the economic viability of Indiana corn farmers,” Beard said. “We thank the delegation from Taiwan for coming here, recognizing the quality of the crops that we grow and signing this agreement. We hope to work with them for many years to come.”

On the soybean side, the Taiwan Vegetable Oil Manufacturers Association (TVOA) intends to buy between 2.6 million tonnes to 2.9 million tonnes, equivalent to 96 million tonnes to 97 million bushels, of soybeans in 2020 and 2021. David Rodibaugh, ISA vice-chairman and Phil Ramsey ISA board director signed the agreement.

“With all of the challenges farmers have faced in 2019, we are very happy to sign this Letter of Intent with this delegation from Taiwan,” Rodibaugh said. “We’ve had a long-standing, good relationship with Taiwan. We intend to keep it strong by providing them a quality product.”

Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch said partnerships like these will benefit all Indiana farms.

“It is estimated that more than 20 percent of all agricultural production in the U.S. goes to outside markets, like Taiwan,” Crouch said. “They continue to be an important trading partner for Indiana, and we appreciate their renewed commitment today to invest in our farmers and agricultural economy.”

Members of the Taiwan trade delegation said they were pleased to keep this flow of U.S. farm products coming into their country.

“Due to its high-quality produce, the U.S. remains one of Taiwan’s largest sources of agricultural products, supplying more than one-quarter of the country’s major agricultural imports,” said Junne-Jih Chen, Taiwan Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister. “We are here to demonstrate Taiwan’s continued willingness to purchase U.S. soybeans, and our determination and dedication to promote bilateral agricultural cooperation.”

Following the signing ceremony at the Chambers of the Indiana Statehouse, the delegates from Taiwan toured the offices of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and the Indianapolis operations for Corteva Agriscience before leaving for Chicago, Illinois, U.S.