Before becoming head of the U.S. Grains Council in 2019, Ryan LeGrand led its office in Mexico City. He brought firsthand experience developing agricultural markets in Mexico to a role focused on opening, maintaining and defending markets for U.S. grain and related products. The organization is now called the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council, and its current profile still lists LeGrand as president and CEO.
What experience did Ryan LeGrand bring from Mexico?
In a May 3, 2019, interview with Successful Farming, LeGrand was described as the Council’s director in Mexico City before his appointment as president and CEO. He said he had enjoyed advancing the agricultural agenda in Mexico and saw the new position as a chance to do that work globally. The Council’s current executive profile says he spent much of his career in Mexico.
LeGrand grew up on a farm in Sulphur, Oklahoma, and earned a bachelor’s degree in international business from Oklahoma State University, according to the 2019 article. His official biography adds earlier experience as an export trader at Garvey International and leadership roles at Hawkeye Gold and Gavilon, where he led multinational teams. It also notes his Spanish fluency and service on U.S. trade advisory committees.
What does the Council do?
In the 2019 interview, LeGrand described the U.S. Grains Council as a nonprofit promoting U.S. corn, barley, sorghum and related co-products in overseas markets. He summarized its purpose this way: “We’re working to open markets, to maintain markets, and to defend markets for the U.S. farmer around the world.”
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The Council’s scope has since broadened in its public name and descriptions. Its official profile identifies the current organization as the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council and describes promotion of U.S. barley, corn, sorghum, ethanol and distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS).
What markets and trade issues did he discuss in 2019?
LeGrand’s remarks about specific countries and trade negotiations reflect the circumstances of his May 2019 interview, not current forecasts or policy positions.
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Mexico and ethanol
He described Mexico as a market the Council needed to maintain and defend, and saw possible room for ethanol growth. As a hypothetical illustration, he estimated Mexico’s gasoline supply at about 12.5 billion gallons and said an E-10 blend could imply potential demand of more than 1.2 billion gallons of ethanol. Both figures were LeGrand’s interview-era estimates; the E-10 figure was a scenario, not a report of actual consumption or an established current market.
Other markets and negotiations
LeGrand spoke about USMCA ratification as a priority and said he believed it would pass. He also discussed Japan, China and the effects he associated with tariffs. These comments describe the trade debate in 2019 and should not be read as a statement of present policy status.
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He called China important to U.S. farmers and mentioned DDGS and ethanol, described India as a potential market for U.S. ethanol, said Vietnam was expanding purchases of Council products, and identified East Africa as a longer-term market-development opportunity. These were his assessments at the time, not independently verified current market conditions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How has the organization changed since the interview?
On August 4, 2025, the Council announced that its members had approved changing its name from the U.S. Grains Council to the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council. The organization said the new name encompasses both its grains and ethanol work. Its name history, as given in the name-change announcement, begins with its founding as the U.S. Feed Grains Council in 1960 and adoption of the U.S. Grains Council name in 1998.
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The Council’s 2025 annual report page reports nine international offices, representation in 30 countries, and programming in more than 70 countries worldwide. Those are distinct measures: offices are locations, representation describes country presence, and programming covers countries where activities take place. They should not be compared directly with LeGrand’s 2019 interview statement that the Council had a full-time presence in 13 countries and reached more than 50 countries; those earlier figures describe the organization as he presented it at that time.
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