April 26, 2017

At a recent product presentation in the Mexican state of Chiapas, a delegation from the US Grains Council (USGC) was pleased to sell 50 tonnes of distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS).

The sale may seem minor, but Javier Chávez, USGC Mexico marketing specialist, said it was the start of another big opportunity for US feed grains.

DDGS is a well-known and frequently used feed source in northern Mexico but does not have the same recognition in the southeastern region of the country, where both cattle and dairy operations rely on grazing pasture to feed the region's estimated 7 million cattle.

Chávez explained that this substantial market is largely undeveloped due to a lack of knowledge of better feeding practices and to inefficient distribution of feed ingredients. He added that available forage provides inadequate nutrition, resulting in poor body condition scores, insufficient daily weight increases, late pregnancies and very large calving intervals.

USGC started conducting DDGS feeding trials for calves, heifers and dairy cattle in Chiapas in 2015. It claimed that US DDGS had the combination of good taste, superior nutritional value and high digestibility, and increased milk production, gave better body condition scores and improved fertility. "For example", it said, "heifers fed US DDGS could be bred to give birth at around two years of age, compared to the regional norm of three or four years".

"The improved fertility means one more calf and one more lactation in the life of a cow, which means a lot of extra money for the producer," Chávez explained. "Supplementing with DDGS means a tremendous savings of time and an increase in the profitability of the ranch."

Following the small success in Chiapas, the Council will next hold DDGS feeding trials in Yucatan, Tabasco and Veracruz states.