Taiwan to buy more from Ky. farmers

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear last week announced an agreement between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Kentucky farmers to increase corn and soybean exports to the East Asian nation over the next two years.

“These agreements between Kentucky farmers and the Republic of China will allow Kentucky to capitalize on one of our nation’s great trade partners,” said Gov. Beshear. “Kentucky exports already support more than 125,000 jobs statewide, and I am excited to have the opportunity to extend that success to our farmers with each of these trade organization commitments in Taiwan.”

Supporting Kentucky’s agriculture community has been a priority for Gov. Beshear throughout his administration. Back in 2009, annual farm receipts totaled $4.3 billion. Today, that number is hovering around $6 billion.

The governor traveled to Taiwan in April during his trade mission to Asia. In Taiwan, he met with Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou and other government dignitaries to further explore trade and investment opportunities.

The Taiwan Feed Industry Association has agreed to purchase 197 million bushels of corn at a cost of more than $1.2 billion. The Taiwan Vegetable Oil Manufacturers Association will be purchasing approximately 100 million bushels of soybeans valued at $1.1-$1.2 billion. These combined purchases over the next two years will be beneficial to corn and soybean growers in Kentucky and across the U.S.
Last year, the Commonwealth exported $27.5 billion in products to more than 190 countries, the fourth consecutive year of record growth.

In 2014, Taiwan ranked as the seventh largest market for U.S. corn exports and fifth in the U.S. Taiwan has imported more than $9 billion in corn and more than $10.5 billion in soybeans from the U.S. since 1998.