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RFA Partners with USGC on International DDGS and Coarse Grains Conference 
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the U.S. Grains Council are pleased to announce the Export Exchange 2010, an international trade conference focused around the export of U.S. distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and coarse grains. This co-sponsored event will bring together more than 150 international buyers of U.S. DDGS and coarse grains with more than 300 U.S. producers and agribusinesses. The conference will be held on Oct. 6-8, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Hotel in Chicago, Ill.

“The opportunity to educate foreign buyers about high quality, U.S.-produced DDGS could not come at a better time,” said RFA President Bob Dinneen. “At current dietary inclusion levels, distillers grains consumption is nearing saturation in the United States. Increasing U.S. exports of distillers grains will be instrumental in helping the industry avoid running into a ‘feed wall.’ Fortunately, markets around the world are rapidly opening, creating demand for approximately 15 to 20 percent of all distillers grains produced today. We look forward to fostering continued growth in export markets and we are excited to co-sponsor the premier forum for connecting international feed buyers with U.S. producers of distillers grains.”

The Export Exchange 2010 is uniquely focused on connecting international buyers of DDGS and coarse grains with the U.S. market. The Council is providing sponsorship for the attendance of targeted international trade teams from more than 25 countries. These participants represent nearly 80 percent of the global export market for DDGS and coarse grains. The conference will address critical issues facing U.S. exports and seek to educate and build awareness of U.S. DDGS and coarse grains among international buyers.

“We are excited to have the Renewable Fuels Association co-sponsor the Export Exchange 2010,” said USGC President and CEO Thomas C. Dorr. “The burgeoning world population is demanding more meat, milk and eggs. U.S. DDGS and coarse grains continue to play an important role in livestock and poultry feed rations globally. We have to educate and connect our buyers and sellers to continue to grow vital markets for the United States.”

For more information and updates about the Export Exchange 2010: Get answers. Make connections. Build business. visit www.grains.org.  

Boston Bound
By Shannon Schaffer, U.S. Grains Council Director of Membership 
The U.S. Grains Council’s 50th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting is just two days away and the excitement is building. Almost 350 individuals, including attendees, Council staff, speakers and guests, will be traveling to Boston, Mass., for this meeting. This will make it the largest attended regular Council meeting ever! Included in this number are 21 former Council chairmen and several key former Council staff. The meeting will bring the history of the Council to life.

The meeting’s theme, “50 Years of Leadership: Acting on Opportunities,” captures our desire to celebrate the Council’s history, while looking forward and planning for the future, a key focus of the meeting.

The work Council members will carry out in Boston is critical to the continued success of the Council. This meeting will bring our key international staff together with our membership to discuss current international market opportunities for U.S. corn, barley, sorghum and their co-products. The Board of Delegates will also elect a new Board of Directors and officers, to serve the 2010-2011 term, and approve a budget for the coming fiscal year.

Beyond planning the future of the Council, attendees will also hear from internationally recognized speakers to help put the issues of the day in context for the work they are doing. Colombian Ambassador to the United States Carolina Barco will discuss the trade relationship between the United States and Colombia; an especially pertinent issue given the absence of a ratified free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia. This cost the U.S. corn sector $314 million in 2009. Furthermore, the U.S. market share of Colombia’s feed grain imports dropped from 96 percent in 2007 to 38 percent in 2009.

Mr. Hanver Li, managing director and chief analyst of Shanghai JC Intelligence Co. Ltd., will be in attendance to discuss the recent exports of U.S. corn to China. China recently opened its markets to U.S. corn to satisfy its ever-growing demand, and it is anticipated that China will continue to import U.S. corn.

Other notable keynote speakers include: Ambassador Islam A. Siddiqui, chief agriculture negotiator for the Office of the USTR; Dr. Joseph Glauber, chief economist for U.S. Department of Agriculture; The Honorable Daniel R. Pearson, vice chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission; The Honorable James Miller, USDA Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services; Mr. Richard Fritz, executive director for the Food and Agriculture Export Alliance; and Ambassador Clayton Yeutter, former Secretary of Agriculture.

For 50 years the Council, following necessary input from its members, has been moving forward in carrying out its mission of Developing Markets, Enabling Trade and Improving Lives. We are grateful so many individuals are able to join us to celebrate this milestone in Council history.

USDA Leadership to Address USGC 50th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting 
The Honorable James Miller, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, and Dr. Joseph Glauber, USDA’s chief economist, will address attendees at the U.S. Grains Council’s 50th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting.

“We look forward to having such distinguished figures in the agriculture and trade world address our conference attendees as the Council celebrates 50 years of carrying out its mission of ‘Building Markets, Enabling Trade and Improving Lives’,” said USGC Chairman Rick Fruth of the Ohio Corn Marketing Program. “As we assess the changing dynamics of international grain trade overall, it is beneficial to hear what experts in the field have to say about some of the issues affecting our work of promoting U.S. corn, barley, sorghum and their co-products.”

Miller served as chief of staff for the National Farmers Union in Washington, D.C., prior to Senate confirmation in April 2009 for his current position at USDA. He has also worked as senior analyst for agriculture and trade on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. For more than 20 years, Miller operated his fourth-generation family farm in Garfield, Wash., from 1974-1995.

As chief economist at USDA, Dr. Glauber is responsible for USDA’s agricultural forecasts and projections and for advising the Secretary of Agriculture on economic implications of alternative programs, regulations and legislative proposals. Prior to holding his current position, Glauber served as USDA’s deputy chief economist from 1992-2007 and was named the special Doha agricultural envoy at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative in 2007 where he continues to serve as chief agricultural negotiator in the Doha talks.

At the Border, USGC Team Meets with DDGS Canadian End Users, Observes Export Process 
As distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) continue a steady flow into Canada, a U.S. Grains Council delegation visited trans-loading facilities and a research feedlot servicing Alberta end-users. The team was especially interested in observing the industry’s ability to handle and store DDGS coming into Canada from the United States.

“I was happy to see facilities in the area have developed infrastructure for the handling of DDGS. That is the first vital step to providing the product to the market,” said delegation member Rich Zeller of Glacial Lakes Energy. Zeller said the team visited two trans-loading sites, one owned by Rycom Trading in Sunburst, Mont., and another operated by TransMark in Stirling, Alberta.

“During our tours we had the chance to talk directly with customers, and we learned that DDGS is not driven by price alone but also by quality. Not all DDGS are the same and for this reason, customers we spoke to felt it was important for them to locate plants that produce high-quality DDGS.”

The group also visited a DDGS feedlot demonstration at a Claresholm beef feedlot where research funded by the Council is being conducted to determine the highest feed intake of DDGS among cattle. While it’s too early in the study to make any conclusions, the group observed the trial methods and cattle allocations and saw firsthand how the feedmill works with the product. Overall, the tours gave team members an inside look at how DDGS moves from the United States into Canada and what the requirements are for Canadian end-users.

“It is important for us to remember that building strong export relationships is key to adding value to our co-products,” said team member Matt Fitzthum of CHS. “Canadian beef and hog producers are a market that can be accessed by trucks and railcars at a fraction of the cost it takes for DDGS to reach Asia or Europe, making Canada a vital trading partner.”

Coverage of the U.S. Grains Council’s 50th Anniversary Meeting 
Couldn’t make it to the U.S. Grains Council’s 50th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting?

Following the meeting, videos, presentations, biographies of the speakers and pictures will be available on the Council’s website and Flickr account.

For audio casts of Council members, follow the Council Cast.

A special ddition of Global Update will highlight the meetings speakers and happenings.

For more information, or to schedule an interview with a Council member, contact Marri Carrow, USGC manager of communications, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

COUNCIL ACTIVITY CALENDAR

July 20-30: The Council will sponsor a Chinese DDGS team to travel to Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and California to further develop and strengthen the relationship between Chinese DDGS buyers and U.S. suppliers. Buyers will be encouraged to purchase more U.S. DDGS in order to better understand the value of the U.S. DDGS in their feed milling and/or livestock operations. This team will also attend the Council’s 50th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting. For more information, contact Kimberly Karst, USGC manager of international operations for Asia at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

July 25-August 1: The Council, in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, will organize a series of meetings for Japanese regulators involved in the food, feed and environmental approvals of biotech corn events in Japan. These meetings will educate Japanese regulators on biotech corn events in the pipeline for entry into the Japanese regulatory system in the near future, and to see how their regulatory approvals and regulations need to work with actual U.S. corn production, distribution and the export system. For more information, contact Rebecca Fecitt, USGC director of biotechnology programs, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .