Trip offers firsthand look at India’s agriculture, food security challenges and market potential.

With nearly 1.5 billion people and a rising middle class, India’s booming economy presents a key growth market as U.S. agriculture looks for opportunities to diversify demand for commodities beyond China.

The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation is offering its members an exclusive opportunity to explore India’s rapid modernization and food security challenges firsthand on an intensive 10-day market study tour in February 2027.

“India is the world’s most populous country. And as their middle class expands, they’re going to need more protein,” said Christopher Pudenz, Iowa Farm Bureau economics and research manager, who is leading the trip. “That might not necessarily mean U.S. protein, but it could mean U.S. feed ingredients for domestic protein, so there is a lot of opportunity for things like corn, DDGs (dried distillers grains) and soybean meal.”

The Iowa Farm Bureau study tour will travel to several locations in India beginning Feb. 19 through Feb. 28, exploring agricultural and cultural sites around Mumbai, New Delhi and southern India and offering a glimpse into the potential of the country’s agricultural demand and the role Iowa farmers can play in meeting it.

Participants will tour diverse crop, vegetable and livestock farms as well as take part in high-level meetings with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Soybean Export Council and prominent India livestock and business groups.

The market study tour will also include cultural and historical experiences across several Indian states, providing important context and a deeper understanding of the country’s history and emerging consumer trends.

“This is a trip that will change the way that you see the world,” said Pudenz. “Your eyes will be opened to entirely new ways of doing things and thinking about things.”

Pudenz


Building relationships

With growing uncertainty about trade relations with China, the state of Iowa and Iowa Farm Bureau have increased engagement with India’s government and agriculture sector in recent years through a series of trade missions and exchanges. 

In 2024, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Farm Bureau President Brent Johnson signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CLFMA of India, a leading animal feed manufacturing organization representing some 250 industry stakeholders, to promote business interactions and two-way investments.  

“If you’re looking at a world map and start circling countries where we don’t export a lot of products that have a lot of potential, you have to start with India,” Pudenz said. “India has a lot of agriculture, but there are a lot of questions as to whether they will be able to continue to be as self-sufficient in agriculture as they are today. 

“India is a long play; it’s is not a five-year play. The seeds of international trade between India and Iowa that we’re sowing right now hopefully will bear fruit 20 to 30 years from now.” 


India’s evolving agriculture

Agriculture remains central to India’s economy and daily life, employing more than 40% of the country’s workforce. That means hundreds of millions of people are directly tied to farming — many operating at a subsistence level, Pudenz explained. Understanding how they produce, store and consume food is key to understanding the broader market.

The trip begins in Mumbai, a financial and business hub comparable to New York City, for business meetings before traveling south for agricultural and industrial tours near Coimbatore and Ooty, a scenic highland town known for its terraced agriculture and mountain tea estates. Other farm tours will highlight local irrigation methods, livestock systems, egg production and a tour of the Pollachi region, known for coconut groves, bananas and vibrant rural markets set against the foothills of the Anamalai range.

The trip concludes in New Dehli, India’s political center akin to Washington D.C. Cultural visits there will include the world’s largest spice and pulse market in Old Delhi.

Pudenz said the fast-paced itinerary will cover a lot of ground in order to provide a complete view of India well beyond the scope of what most tourists are able to experience.

“We want to get out of India’s largest city centers into the countryside to see what the real India looks like up close and in person,” he said. “We are going places that tourists don’t normally go. But the advantage of that is we will get to see things that tourists don’t normally get to see.” 

Despite the differences in scale, technology and environment, Pudenz said participants will establish connections with India’s farmers and find that they may have more in common than they might think.

“The environment in which India’s farmers operate, geographically and politically, almost could not be more different than here in Iowa,” said Pudenz. “But at the end of the day, farmers are the same everywhere. They face the same joys, and they also face the same struggles.”


Selecting participants

The IFBF India market study tour is exclusive to Iowa Farm Bureau members who apply and are selected. Participants will be chosen based on potential leadership participation in Farm Bureau and other agricultural organizations, communication skills and a willingness to share what they learned with their communities. 

Applications must be submitted by July 24 through the IFBF website.

Members selected for the study tour will be required to pay $2,500 to fund a share of the cost of the tour, which includes airfare, hotel and some meals. Participants will need to have a valid passport through August 2027. Those selected may request a single room for an additional $1,100.

A separate application is required for spouses or significant others who wish to be considered for the tour. If selected, spouses or significant others will be required to pay a higher participation fee, which has yet to be determined but will not exceed the total cost of the trip. Participants will also need to obtain and pay for a tourist visa as required for entry by the government of India. 

Participants will be asked to share what they learn on the market study tour through a minimum of four presentations or outreach events in their local communities after the study tour. 

The travel will be rigorous, so applicants need to be in good health and able to be on the move and walk long distances, Pudenz emphasized. 

Go online to www.iowafarmbureau.com/News/Market-Study-Tour for more information in the India market study tour or to fill out an application. If you have questions, contact Stacy Stevens at sstevens@ifbf.org.