April 22, 2013

US state signs agreements with Shanghai Dairy in China

The US state of Wisconsin has entered into three letters of intent with the Shanghai Dairy Group to establish future business agreements.

This was announced by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's office.

The first letter of intent recognises Wisconsin's abundant supply of quality animal feed products available for the Shanghai Dairy Group and identifies Wisconsin as a source of agricultural equipment and technical support for the Shanghai Dairy Group. It also expresses Shanghai Dairy Group interest to purchase animal feed products including Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles over the next three years and agricultural equipment from Wisconsin.

The Babcock Institute agreement will provide technical training for Shanghai management over the next three years. Each year, 10 farm managers will participate in hands-on training to learn how to improve milk quality, increase production, and provide high-quality dairy products to their customers. Training will occur both at Shanghai Dairy farms as well as at the UW-Madison Agricultural Research Stations. The University of Wisconsin Dairy Science faculty will have the opportunity to provide instruction on Chinese farms and overcome unique problems they may not encounter on farms in Wisconsin. They will also contribute to the improvement of milk quality for the Chinese people.

Lastly, a letter of intent was signed between the Shanghai DingNiu Feed Co. Ltd., a company of SDG, and Badger State Ethanol LLC of Monroe. The agreement is for the sale of animal feed products over the next three years. Once the details are finalised, this agreement will be the first ever animal feed product purchase from a Wisconsin company with Shanghai Dairy.

The Shanghai Dairy Group includes 40,000 cows on multiple farms, a feed facility, dairy processing, food retail, beef steers, dairy equipment and dairy technology research.

The letters were signed by State Agriculture Secretary Ben Brancel and Shen Weiping, President and CEO of the Shanghai Dairy Group.