What is distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and how is it used? These are two questions frequently asked by end users around the world and the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) is on a mission to answer them.

Educating the world community about the value and benefits of DDGS as a component in feed rations is essential to building export market potential for the ethanol industry coproduct. While there will be enough domestic demand to consume the potential seven million metric tons of DDGS that U.S. ethanol plants are anticipated to produce – 73 plants are currently in operation and 15 more are under construction – plenty of export opportunities exist beyond our borders.

The USGC is making inroads into potential growth markets such as Asia, Mexico, Canada and the European Union through its education efforts. As an example, several of its overseas offices are conducting DDGS feed trials to demonstrate the quality and benefits of using DDGS as an ingredient in feed rations for swine, poultry and dairy diets. The USGC also focused on answering foreign customers' questions regarding DDGS at its Fourth International Grain Marketing Conference and Trade Show in Minneapolis in July. Since the conference, companies in Malaysia, Egypt and Ireland – all of whom had representatives at the conference – have made purchases of U.S. DDGS. Conference attendees from Australia also expressed interest in the coproduct.

Whether educating customers on the domestic front or through one of its 10 overseas offices, the Grains Council projects the same message – U.S. DDGS is a high quality, viable feed ration alternative. In particular, USGC promotes a more golden-colored DDGS made from corn that newer U.S. ethanol plants are producing. Researchers have suggested that this type of DDGS is higher in amino acid digestibility, particularly for swine and poultry. The USGC office in Taiwan recently conducted a nutritional analysis comparing golden-colored U.S. DDGS with a darker-colored DDGS sample from China and discovered that the U.S. sample was also significantly higher in crude fat (11 percent) compared to the Chinese DDGS (4.4 percent). Furthermore, the lysine content of the U.S. DDGS was approximately two times higher than the DDGS from China.

There is great export potential in Asia since the ethanol industry is only just emerging, yet there is a sizable feed industry that can utilize DDGS. Asia also has a long history of importing U.S. grain because of its large population and limited space in which to grow crops. Japan, for example, is the top customer of U.S. corn. Three-fourths of its U.S. corn imports are utilized for feed.

As a result, USGC has been focusing much of its DDGS education efforts in Asia. DDGS feeding trials are currently being conducted in Japan, where USGC is also working with Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (MAFF) to revise the official nutritional composition standard to reflect the increased values of the new style DDGS.

USGC is also conducting DDGS feed trials in Taiwan where it is providing technical support and information to help this developing market. Because the golden-colored U.S. DDGS is new to the Taiwan market, there are many questions regarding dietary inclusion rates, nutrient specifications and diet formulation procedures. They are also looking for information on quality in such areas as the smell, color, mycotoxin risk and stability.

The Taiwan feeding trials involve Charoen Pokphand Enterprise Co., the largest feed company and livestock and poultry producer in Asia, which purchased 50 tons of U.S. DDGS to use in feeding trials for swine and poultry. The company is aggressively seeking "new" feed ingredients, such as DDGS, to use in its diet formulations and has indicated they will purchase 1,500 tons in the near future, depending on price, availability and quality. Preliminary results from its feeding trials for broilers and hogs indicate using DDGS as a protein source in Taiwan's hot and humid climate is workable.

Lin-Fen-Ying Dairy Farm in Taiwan is also currently conducting feeding trials for dairy cattle utilizing 3.5 tons of DDGS. The trial will utilize 25 mid-lactation or first-lactation Holstein dairy cows per dietary treatment. The cows will be fed either a controled total mix ration or a total mix ration containing DDGS at approximately 10 percent of dry matter intake.

Results from the feeding trial are expected in December. The Taiwanese have also expressed interest in conducting DDGS feeding trials for ducks and geese.

Other potential markets for U.S. DDGS lie within the European Union, which is already a frequent buyer of co-products and has the appropriate systems to handle DDGS imports. The EU may also prove to be a strong market for DDGS because of the drought that hit Eastern and Western Europe this year and left countries scrambling to find feed grain.

Mexico and Canada are also strong potential markets for DDGS, due in part to growing swine industries that can benefit from the coproduct. Canada currently produces 200 million liters of ethanol annually, compared to the seven billion liters produced each year in the United States. These countries also face lower transportation costs because of their close proximity to the U.S. Corn Belt, where most of the world's DDGS is produced

USGC believes that its education efforts are having an impact in promoting DDGS abroad. The desire to use the coproduct is there, but achieving widespread acceptance and significant long-term use of the newer, golden U.S. DDGS will depend on the economic viability of the ration compared to other rations. Also, alternative transportation and logistical strategies, particularly for Asia, will have to be found in order to lower costs. EP