BOONE, Iowa — U.S. corn export sales reached a marketing-year high, and Boone County grower Leonard Voss has updated the résumé he keeps in his pickup glove box. He is now in international sales. His office still has one working window and a plastic map holder full of ketchup packets, but Leonard believes the new title will give the cab a different atmosphere.
He told the grain elevator manager, Bev Ames, he was prepared to do business over lunch. Bev said the load would be weighed whether he ate or not. Leonard called her approach refreshing after so many years in the domestic market.
Mexico Moves U.S. Corn Export Sales to a Season High
The United States booked roughly 113 million bushels of net corn export sales in the reported week, with Mexico accounting for more than two-thirds, according to the U.S. corn export sales breakdown. Those are booked sales, which can be delivered later. If your local elevator is bidding for delivery next week, that bid reflects local supply, nearby demand, freight and other factors along with whatever excitement has reached the broader grain market.
Leonard understood this and wanted his elevator to understand it while paying him more. He carried the printed report in and slid it across the counter like a lawyer introducing a surprise witness. Bev countered with a list of ten trucks ahead of him. The fourth was his brother-in-law, who apparently also had an international division.
The Export Market Meets the Scale Ticket
A cash bid generally combines a futures reference price with a local basis, which can be positive or negative. Ask the elevator which contract month it is using and what discounts apply for moisture or damage. Then compare the delivered bids you can actually use. A buyer paying an extra dime can still leave you with less after a long haul and a wait to unload. Leonard learned that in a line outside a processor where he watched the same Wendy’s bag blow by four times.
His daughter Nina offered to format his résumé. She asked what languages he spoke. Leonard said he knew how to order two tacos and to apologize for asking what time the kitchen closed. Nina put both skills under professional development. Under travel she wrote that her father could make it to the far farm without touching the brakes if the traffic was in a cooperative mood.
By the time Leonard’s truck crossed the scale, he’d added shipping coordinator, customer relations and director of inventory. Bev gave him the ticket and pointed out that all three people would have to stay late to sweep out the bed. Leonard thanked her for taking his company seriously. On the drive home he turned the heater on full blast and announced to an empty passenger seat that overseas expansion would begin once the defroster cleared his side of the windshield.
No corn received an overseas travel allowance. Leonard submitted a receipt for two tacos and remains hopeful.
Last Updated on November 15, 2026 by Alan Nafzger