Australia takes on US pop culture

They say that in every cloud there is a silver lining, a sentiment that will surely have been put to the test by farmers and millers across the world this year thanks to drought or in some cases extreme rain.

But a global shortage of popping corn is creating opportunities for some Australian growers of grains according to ABC Rural. The world’s biggest producer of popping corn, USA, has been swept by the same circumstances of drought as its other grain exports. This has left many international markets now short in supply.

To take advantage of the situation, farmers in central western NSW, Australia, will plant the biggest popcorn crop in the region’s history. Commodity trader Tony Cogswell says it’s hoped the niche crop will be exported to a number of international buyers.

“This has got a permanent place in our program now. We have some domestic clients that are taking popcorn on a regular basis,” he said.

“It will also be going into Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Egypt and potentially into France.

“We have had enquires from all of those places and they are all in our targets.”

List of U.S. state foods (Photo credit: Wikipedia)