19/09/2013: Algeria's first US grain imports; ag giants kept out of India; Adisseo wins IT Innovation Award

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) recently announced positive international developments with regard to the importation of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) in Algeria and plans by Taiwan to purchase U.S. grains products. 

This positive development comes a year after USGC and USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service announced that a three and a half year effort to convince Algeria to remove a value added tax and custom tax on all feed imports to Algeria. 

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Controls are discouraging the agricultural trading giants from investing in the country's storage sector despite a huge potential for elevator production in a country where US$3.5bn of grain is written off every year.

While India is the second-ranked rice and wheat producing country after China, agricultural trading houses have been reluctant to invest in the country thanks to the degree of government control over the sector.

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Adisseo has been named the winner of the 2013 Information Technology Innovation Award for its web-based platform, Precise Nutrition Evaluation (PNE). The award acknowledges technological advancements in the feed and food industry to meet the demand of a growing population.

PNE which was launched in September 2012, combines an internet-accessible database with near infrared spectroscopy technology, analysis of ingredients for the determination of apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and digestible amino acids (DAA), and ISO-certified wet chemistry methods that are both stringent and high quality. 

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English: India. Area controlled by India in dark green; Claimed but uncontrolled territories in light green. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Amino acid digestibility of heat damaged distillers dried grains with solubles fed to pigs

The production of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) involves a drying step in which temperature may reach 500°C or greater. The application of heat and moisture to feedstuffs results in the Maillard reaction, which reduces the concentration and digestibility of amino acids. Lysine's chemical structure makes it particularly susceptible to the Maillard reaction. 

However, during the acid hydrolysis step of amino acid analysis, some lysine is recovered from Maillard products, but this lysine cannot be utilised by the animals, and thus, the amount of digestible lysine in a sample may be overestimated. Therefore, methods other than simple lysine analysis must be used when assessing feed that may be heat damaged.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of heat damage on the digestibility of crude protein and amino acids in corn DDGS fed to growing pigs. A second objective of the experiment was to develop regression equations to predict the concentration of standardised ileal digestible (SID) amino acids in DDGS.

Experimental design
Ten growing pigs with an average initial body weight of 53.5 kg were surgically equipped with a T-cannula in the distal ileum and fed one of five diets. Corn DDGS from a single source was separated into four batches; the first batch was not autoclaved, and the others were autoclaved at 130°C for 10, 20, or 30 minutes. The concentrations of acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), lignin, ash, reducing sugars, furosine, and acid detergent  insoluble nitrogen (ADIN), and the colors of the DDGS determined as  L* (lightness), a* (redness), and b* (yellowness) were measured in each batch.

Four diets that contained each of the four batches of DDGS were formulated. DDGS was the only source of crude protein and amino acids in the diets. A nitrogen-free diet was used to determine the endogenous losses of crude protein and amino acids. Ileal digesta were collected after a five-day adjustment period to the diets, and analysed for protein and amino acids to determine values for apparent and standardised ileal digestibility of crude protein and amino acids in each batch of DDGS.

Read the full report here.  

Wet Distiller's Grain (Photo credit: agrilifetoday)

 

EU Approves MIR 162, Opens Doors to US DDGS, CGF

The U.S. Grains Council is pleased to learn of the official approval of the Syngenta corn variety MIR 162 Agrisure Vipterra in the European Union, opening the way for exports of U.S. corn co-products, including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn gluten feed (CGF). The long-delayed decision came after years of industry leadership and efforts, especially those partners of the Council in the EU, including COCERAL, a grain trade association, FEFAC, a feed millers association, and the Irish Feed Millers Association.

“This approval is a great success as it opens the window of opportunity for U.S. products, including DDGS and CGF, to enter the EU market. This is especially attractive in big markets like Ireland, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. Their ability to import these high-protein feed ingredients is critical at a time of crop shortage in Europe and high prices. Everyone is looking for alternatives,” said Cary Sifferath, USGC senior regional director based in Tunis.

Sifferath noted, however, the opportunity may only exist for a limited amount of time as new crop biotech events coming down the pipeline are not yet approved in Europe. Such products may be planted by U.S. farmers in the spring, meaning they may enter the market in the fall of 2013. This could again stall sales of U.S. co-products into the EU provided the approval process remains sluggish within the trade bloc.
"Corn co-products are a tremendous feed ingredient recognized as a good value by buyers within Europe and around the world," Sifferath said. "Approvals such as this help livestock and poultry producers manage costs and expand options, and we are hopeful the availability of these options continue well into the future."

Dry Distiller's Grain (Photo credit: agrilifetoday)

19/07/12: Stories from China, Mexico and the UK

Hello, 

True to our Global Miller name, we've got stories from three continents today.

• New source of animal feed from bioethanol UK farmers.  The Vivergo biofuel plant in East Yorkshire is due to open late this summer.  It will use 1.1 million tonnes of wheat per year to produce bioethanol, but a co-product of this will be half a million tonnes of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS).  Read more...

• China Food unit agrees sale of animal feed business.  Read more...

• Essex, UK milling company, Marriage's expands.  Read more...

• H.J. Baker and Vimifos to provide poultry products to feed industry across Mexico.  Read more...

Dry Distiller's Grain (Photo credit: agrilifetoday)

DDGS dietary calculating tools developed by several US universities

Kansas State University, Iowa State University and South Dakota State University have all developed online calculators for distiller's dried grains with soluble (DDGS). Distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are figuring highly in US pork producers' dietary supplements for their herds, by some estimations at five million tons.

Kansas State University free online calculator
Iowa State University free online calculator
South Dakota State University free online calculator

Replacing corn with the byproducts of the ethanol process cost effectively requires time and calculation, so to help with the calculation process several US Midwestern Universities have developed free online calculators to aid in the decision making process when figuring out the potential cost savings from using DDGS at varying levels. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers. To get your copy of 'PPLAPP' click here.

USGC and China DDGS dumping probe

Three years ago there were virtually no dried distillers grains (DDGS) going to China. Last year there were more than 1.5 million metric tons of DDGS exported to the country and some estimate that the number could be as high as 3 million metric tons at the close of this year. The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) felt that this was the normal progression in trade in a market that is growing exponentially.

However, according to Rebecca Bratter, the USGC director of trade development, it didn’t completely come as a surprise when the China’s Ministry of Commerce has launched an anti-dumping probe into the ethanol co-product DDGS.

The case was initiated on December 28, 2010 and will take at least a year before a decision is made. In the meantime, the interested parties were only given 20 days to register their interest in the case.

“We understand the consequences. We know what’s at stake for registering or not registering,” said Bratter.  “We know this is just the first step in what will be a long process which will include both an injury investigation and on a separate track, a dumping investigation.” Read more...


This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.