Last week, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) co-organized a training course for aquaculture producers at Aydin Adnan Menderes University (ADU) in Turkey as a result of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the Council and the university.
The MOU was signed in June with the goal of creating a regional training center for aquaculture to improve farming operations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Courses explore best practices for aquaculture production, including the use of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn fermented protein (CFP).
“This is the first of several aquaculture training courses the Council will hold in Turkey and it’s extremely encouraging to already see such strong interest in the program from the local industry,” said Ana Maria Ballesteros, USGC deputy regional director for Europe and the Middle East.
“Industry awareness of nutritious diet ingredients like DDGS and CFP has increased in the past several years but still presents a significant growth opportunity in Turkey, the sixth-largest importer of U.S. DDGS in marketing year 2023/2024.”
Attendees included 20 key Turkish aquaculture stakeholders that constituted 90 percent of the country’s total production.
The seminar began with welcoming addresses from Council and university staff as well as a representative from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA’s FAS) to provide an overview of the agenda and focal points for the training sessions.
Lectures from university staff dove deeper into the benefits of DDGS and CFP in fish diets and explained how to properly source, store and apply them in aquaculture facilities. Participants then worked on practice courses to reinforce the habits and knowledge imparted to them from the expert speakers.
Additional training seminars will be held at ADU in the coming months to continue to strengthen the region’s aquaculture production and further cement U.S. corn and corn co-products as the preferred choice among importers and end-users.
Button: Learn more about the Council’s work in Turkey here.
About The U.S. Grains Council
The U.S. Grains Council develops export markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol. With full-time presence in 28 locations, the Council operates programs in more than 50 countries and the European Union. The Council believes exports are vital to global economic development and to U.S. agriculture’s profitability. Detailed information about the Council and its programs is online at www.grains.org.