Eight U.S. Grains Council (USGC) members discussed the value of U.S. corn and distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) to the Canadian beef market with customers and potential customers during a webinar in early October.
“This discussion provided an opportunity to connect U.S. suppliers and Canadian end-users,” said Reece Cannady, USGC manager of global trade. “Details about the opportunities for corn and DDGS in the cattle feeding business were extremely valuable for providing insights into current and future market trends and projects, how to establish value compared to other feed ingredients and how to identify buying opportunities.”
Canada purchased 1.68 million metric tons (61.7 million bushels) of U.S. corn and 425,000 tons of U.S. DDGS in the 2019/2020 marketing year. These sales made Canada the eighth largest market for U.S. DDGS, but the country has the potential to utilize more than four million tons of DDGS annually, which the Council is working to capture.
The United States is well-positioned to meet this need due to proximity to northern U.S. ethanol plants, but Canadian livestock feed demand is highly competitive with many alternative starch and protein feed ingredients available for producers. This month’s webinar provided the latest market and nutritional information for U.S. corn and DDGS for beef production directly from representatives at eight USGC member companies that are DDGS suppliers.
While the program was targeted at the Canadian cattle feeders and producers who are the end-users of U.S. corn and DDGS, a variety of other industry participants also joined the discussion, including cattle nutritionists, buyers from commercial feed mills and other tradespeople with experience in buying, feeding and formulating these ingredients. Eight additional livestock producers or commercial feed millers were unable to attend the live program but requested information from the webinar.
“Excellent questions during this program prompted valuable discussion,” Cannady said. “We look forward to continuing to engage in the Canadian market to help them take advantage of all that U.S. corn and DDGS have to offer.”
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.