Grainnet

Distillers' Dried Grains Conference in Schaumburg, IL Attracts Global Audience

This article is taken from the U.S. Grains Council Oct. 25 Global Update Newsletter.

The U.S. Grains Council in partnership with BBI International hosted the first-ever International Distillers Grains Conference held in Schaumburg, IL, Oct. 21-23, which attracted nearly 600 participants, including 144 international importers and leaders in agriculture across the world sponsored by the Council.

International participants were afforded the opportunity to acquire information pertaining to U.S. distiller’s dried grains (DDG), including inclusion rates, quality assurance, transportation issues and an introduction to U.S. DDG exporters.

At the same time, U.S. DDG exporters and interested parties heard from global DDG buyers regarding personal experiences with the ethanol co-products as well concerns.

“This unique conference was an outstanding opportunity for sellers and buyers to talk face-to-face about feeding and purchasing U.S. distiller’s grains,” said Ken Hobbie, USGC president and CEO.

“Questions were answered, concerns were addressed, and export potential was strengthened.

The ‘rock star’ sponsors of this event were the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, South Dakota Corn Utilization Council and with additional support from the Nebraska orn Board.

"These top ethanol producing states reinforced to farmers there commitment to increasing emand for U.S. feed grains, both domestically and across our borders.”

Randy Ives, senior vice president of Hawkeye Gold, an Iowa-based USGC member that provides professional marketing services for distillers’ grains producer, said one of the best components of the conference was the DDG export customer panel.

“It is not common to have U.S. DDG export customers from Mexico, Taiwan, Japan, Guatemala and Egypt all on one stage sharing their positive experiences with the ethanol co-product and identifying their concerns,” said Ives.

“This was a tremendous opportunity to gain valuable information to take back to our customers in order to evaluate progress and alleviate concerns.”

The information received by importers was just as valuable as the information U.S. interests acquired, according to Harry Feng, chairman of the Egg Marketing Cooperative in Tainan City, Taiwan.

“Uncertainty is what causes disruption in trade and progress.

"Hearing what quality controls for mycotoxins and residues in distiller’s grains are in place in the United States was more than beneficial,” said Feng.

“Also seeing studies of nutritional value and feeding inclusion rates will benefit poultry producers in Taiwan.”

Although the conference was the main attraction, international participants took advantage of their time in the Midwest.

The Council conducted more than a dozen pre and post-conference tours for international guests.

The teams met with several USGC members as they toured farms, ethanol plants, grain elevators, loading facilities, grading labs and livestock operations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Dan Keefe, USGC manager of international operations for distillers’ grains said, “These tours allow our trade partners to see firsthand what speakers at the conference were talking about and gain invaluable face time with suppliers, which sustains relationships that ultimately lead to reliable, educated buyers.”