USGC Develops Market For U.S. DDGS In Morocco

Using Market Access Program (MAP) funds, the Council partnered with CasaGrains, Morocco’s largest importer of U.S. Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), to sponsor a Moroccan trade team to travel within the United States, raising awareness of the use of DDGS in poultry feed rations.  As a result of this DDGS buyer’s team, the Council saw an in increase in the use of U.S. DDGS in the Moroccan egg laying sector. Five Moroccan buyers who participated in the program imported a total of 95,000 tons of DDGS valued at $25.5 million in 2014. The Council invested $26,000 of MAP funds in support of this program generating a Return on Investment (ROI) of $980 per every $1 of MAP funding invested.

Most egg layer farmers in Morocco make their own feed and purchase feed ingredients directly from importers such as CasaGrains. Even though DDGS was available to farmers through CasaGrains, the layer operators generally work with  pre-mix companies and their nutritionist/salesmen in developing their rations, who are not familiar with DDGS and don’t usually include DDGS at any level in the egg layer diets, no matter what the price.  The U.S. Grains Council saw this as an opportunity to increase distiller’s dried grains with soluble (DDGS) use in Morocco’s egg layer sector. This sector is growing and has the potential for much larger imports of DDGS.

The Council worked directly with CasaGrains and their customers in the egg layer industry to expose them to U.S. corn and DDGS production, quality and use in layer rations, by arranging a buyer team to the United States.   CasaGrains covered the international airfare for the team members while the Council invested $26,000 to cover all other program expenses. The team visited Iowa, the largest egg producing state in the U.S., to see how U.S. corn and DDGS are used in the layer industry in Iowa. The team also met with the leading researchers at Iowa State University and had hands-on exposure to how the U.S. egg laying industry uses corn and DDGS and they learned how they can utilized DDGS in their formulations back in Morocco.