Identifying how U.S. feed grains and co-products can meet the specific demands of a local market is the specialty of the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC) staff around the world.
In Ecuador, USGC is successfully helping swine and poultry producers improve feed formulations using U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS).
Ecuador is a corn-producing nation, backed by a government self-sufficiency policy. In the past few years, however, the local corn crop has not been sufficient to meet domestic demand, resulting in expensive prices and government-issued import permits.
USGC is conducting DDGS-specific programs throughout Ecuador to share knowledge on how to incoporate the feed ingredient into swine and poultry rations.
In contrast, Ecuador is able to import U.S. DDGS, though only a few livestock producers were aware of the feed ingredient before USGC commenced a flurry of activities to introduce it to local feed industries.
These programs also helped current and potential end-users understand how DDGS is produced in the United States and how it is managed through the U.S. export system until reaching export destinations like Ecuador.
While the resulting sales to Ecuador represent smaller overall market volume, U.S. DDGS imports have increased substantially. Ecuador imported nearly 12,500 metric tons in 2016/2017, more than double the nearly 5,600 tons imported the year before.
This marketing year (September 2017 to March 2018), Ecuador has purchased 4,950 tons of U.S. DDGS.
“Our programs are giving end-users confidence in using U.S. DDGS, which has been directly reflected in imports,” says Marri Tejada, USGC regional director for the Western Hemisphere. “Potential for further growth exists with continued competitive prices and continued educational efforts to reach a higher number of swine and poultry producers.”
