Original Story: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-usa-corn-importsbre88p1kh-20120926,0,6566321.story
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Hog producer Prestage Farms Inc and two other livestock companies in North Carolina have signed deals to import 750,000 metric tons (826733.48 tons) of corn from Brazil in the wake of sky-high U.S. prices, Senior Vice President John Prestage told Reuters.
The imports, made through agribusiness companies such as Bunge Ltd and Archer Daniels Midland Co , are the largest on record and come after the worst drought in half a century rallied grain prices to all-time peaks this summer.
“As it got drier and drier, we starting thinking, ‘We’d better start looking around.’ So then we really went to work with the South American connections,” said Prestage, whose family company ranks among the top five U.S. hog producers.
It was the first official confirmation of rumors that U.S. livestock companies were importing up to 1 million metric tons of corn from Brazil. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects U.S. corn imports at a record 1.9 million metric tons in the marketing year ending August 31, 2013.