15 December 2008

2 minute read

Oceania

The US Grains Council has been present in Australia as the shipment's recipient begins the country's first U.S. DDGS feeding trials in dairy and horse feed rations.

According to Adel Yusupov, USGC regional director in Southeast Asia, the recipient, Australian feed supplier CopRice, plans to produce dairy trial pellet feeds in its plants in Tongala, Leeton and Cobden. "The company will contract with three-to-four farmers each, producing 200 cows per farm, totaling 600 to 800 cows," he said. "The trial timeframe is estimated at 10 to 14 days with DDGS inclusion rates of 5 per cent, 10 per cent, 15 per cent and 20 per cent." Upon completion of the trial, CopRice is planning to measure milk volume and output per cow, milk fat and milk protein content.

The results would then be compared to the control diet. Not much is known about CopRice's intentions to test DDGS in horse feed rations, Yusupov said, as the trials are still in the planning stage.

"Horse feed is CopRrice's second most important feed product and they are planning to mill DDGS at a 10 per cent inclusion rate into horse pellet feed," he said, adding that the trial is to run for three weeks. The DDGS sample was donated to CopRice from Council member Hawkeye Gold in Ames, Iowa. Council member The DeLong Co. Inc. of Clinton, Wis., donated trans-loading services for the shipment and the Council covered the freight costs.

"We are very excited to begin feeding trials using the U.S. DDGS sample," said Kirsty Cutter of CopRice. "The most important goal achieved so far is that U.S. DDGS can be successfully brought into the country and used in commercial pellet feed production in Australian conditions. We look forward to seeing the results of these trials and what they reveal."

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