U.S. Grains Council, North Dakota Corn Council Promote DDGS To African Feed Industry

To further the export growth of U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and the North Dakota Corn Council (NDCC) led a group of East and West African industry stakeholders on a tour of U.S. production facilities and the transportation supply chain earlier this month.

“Feeding Africa’s rapid population growth will be a priority for the global agriculture industry over the coming decades, and the Council is working to position U.S. producers at the forefront of meeting the continent’s demand,” said Mohamed Salah Bouthour, USGC deputy regional director for Africa. “The DDGS market has an extremely bright future in the region due to its high protein content and programs like this will help facilitate its expansion into African feed diets.”

The team arrived in St. Louis, MO, on May 6 for tours at Bayer to learn about technology’s place in agriculture and at ADM’s river and rail transport facilities for an overview of how U.S. commodities make their way to customers around the world.

The agenda then shifted to Iowa for meetings with a wide variety of supply chain stakeholders, beginning with a visit to Iowa State University’s feed mill that included quality assurance walkthroughs from students at its dairy, poultry, turkey and crop production research and demonstration farms. Participants also went to the Iowa Corn Promotion Board’s educational center and saw ethanol and DDGS production firsthand at a local ethanol plant.