Publisher: China a huge untapped market for American agriculture

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- With the expansion of its middle class, China is a vast untapped market for American agriculture, said John LaRose, publisher and editor of MidAmerica Farm Publications Inc.

LaRose, of Perryville, recently returned from a U.S. Department of Agriculture Trade Mission trip to northeast China. Representatives from U.S. companies and commodity organizations, state departments of agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. officials were part of the group that visited Dalian, Shenyang and Changchun, China, in May. LaRose said he was invited on the eye-opening trip by Michael Scuse, undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services.

China's expenditures on food have increased 100 percent in the past 10 years and the middle class there has increased by more than 200 percent during the same period, LaRose said.

"The opportunities for American agriculture are just unlimited. That's only because their middle class is expanding so rapidly, and as their middle class expands, they want better food," he said. "They want ... Western-style food. I'm not saying U.S.; it could be European. They want something besides rice, and it's my understanding they trust American food [for its quality and cleanliness]."

During his visit, LaRose talked to business owners, visited soybean crushers, dairy and beef operations, a rice mill/farm and met with numerous government officials.

John LaRose, publisher and editor of MidAmerica Farm Publications, poses for a photo Saturday. (Submitted by John LaRose Jr.)

China is eliminating restrictions on private enterprise; in turn, private enterprise is "just booming everywhere" -- everything from mom-and-pop operations to modern shopping centers that are "second to nothing in this country," LaRose said.

Construction appears to be driving the Chinese economy.

"There is more ... construction of buildings that exceed 35 floors in any one of those three cities than what's taking place in our entire country right now," LaRose said.

He added that hundreds of 20-story buildings were being constructed as well, although some may not be finished on the inside. Created by private developers, they have to generate a certain amount of sales to keep a building.

"They are planning on a lot of people moving into the ... cities and a lot of people moving from the lower class to the middle class who would be buying these apartment houses," LaRose said.

"It reminds me of what it must have been like in this country in the late '40s, '50s and '60s. ... We were expanding rapidly after the second World War ... and that's what they're going through over there right now," he said.

Chinese business purchases account for roughly 25 percent of the soybeans grown in the United States. Last year, soybeans translated to more than $15 billion in sales to China, followed by cotton at $3.5 billion, corn at $1.6 billion and whole hides and skins at $1.2 billion, according to an article written by LaRose. China's major agricultural exports to the U.S. were plywood, apple juice, dog and cat food and frozen tilapia fillets.

Meanwhile, rice exports could be a boon for American agriculture, but it's not legal in China yet. The U.S. Rice Producers Association and Missouri Rice Council have been working since 2006 to get a protocol established so rice can be brought into China.

The rules are still in the Chinese government's hands. U.S. production of rice amounts to only 1 percent of what China consumes annually. "Any kind of increase at all booms the rice industry in this country," LaRose said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address: Perryville, Missouri