During the International Poultry and Pig Show 2015 in Japan the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) provided Japanese swine producers with the latest productivity-enhancing information on subjects such as inclusion rates, nutritional benefits and more, of U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in livestock feed rations. This initiative is part of an ongoing effort to build awareness of and demand for the product.
As of April, Japan has imported 98,650 metric tons of U.S. DDGS this calendar year, making it the seventh largest importer of the corn co-product. There is room for more, however, based on realistic inclusion rates in Japan’s livestock rations.
To help generate interest in U.S. DDGS, the Council team at the show featured Bruce Rohwer, Iowa Corn Growers Association past president, Dr. Gerald Shurson, University of Minnesota professor, and USGC staff and consultants, who presented technical information to interested end-users.
“Promoting DDGS at this event is a major activity for the Council in Japan,� said USGC Director in Japan Tommy Hamamoto. “The Council has to continue to provide nutritional information about DDGS to key end-users in Japan for the market to demand this product in larger quantities.�
Recently, oil extraction from DDGS has become a common practice in the United States. This process removes about one-third of the oil, or fat, from DDGS.
In the past, higher levels of oil in DDGS made Japan’s swine fat excessively soft, which has been a limitation for the application of DDGS in Japan’s swine industry. The Council expects that more DDGS will be used in the swine sector as oil content decreases.
“While DDGS is not price competitive in the Japanese market right now, continuing this kind of activity where we promote and educate end-users will lead to more sales of U.S. DDGS to Japan when the price is right,â€� Hamamoto said.
The Council will build on its work at the Poultry and Pig Show with visits to individual feed companies that are manufacturing compound feed products for the swine industry to provide them with information about U.S. DDGS. In addition, the Council in Japan has an ongoing series of technical seminars to disseminate nutritional information about DDGS to the livestock industry there.