Russia demands DDGS as poultry industry grows
Alex Kholopov, US Grains Council consultant in Russia, says the livestock and poultry industries are growing rapidly in the country, due in large part to the government’s decision to make agriculture a national priority.
Prior to the government’s focus on agriculture, it was nearly impossible for livestock and poultry operators to borrow money for longer than a year, said Kholopov. Today, however, the government allows loans for up to 8 years with 0% interest.
“We are now seeing Russia’s poultry industry grow 16-18% annually. It is the fastest growing agricultural industry in the country,” he said.
Attention on DDGS
Leaders in Russia’s poultry industry are now looking to US distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a co-product of ethanol. Dmitry Lvovich, assistant to the general director of OGO Group, one of the top 3 companies in Russia in terms of elevator capacity, livestock feed output and poultry production, is attending the Council’s International Distillers Grains Conference (IDGC) in Indianapolis, Indiana, with the aim of finding the right supplier of DDGS to establish a long-term relationship.
“I am convinced of the value of DDGS as a feed ingredient due to the US Grains Council providing educational seminars in Russia. Just as importantly, my company was looking for economic justification for using distiller’s grains and after the Council brought consultants to Russia a few months ago, we found the co-product to be very price competitive.”
DDGS exported to Russia
Lvovich said that when a reliable supplier is identified, OGO will work to get the US company registered to export DDGS to Russia. When the registration is complete, OGO will be turning to the Council for technical assistance, said Lvovich.
“We will need to know how to efficiently and effectively feed the product,” he said. “We are particularly interested in the nutritional components of distiller’s grains. We foresee other companies following our lead and incorporating DDGS into poultry rations in the near future.”
At present, the livestock and poultry industries in Russia utilise 18 mln mt of feed ingredients with 60-70% going into poultry rations. Kholopov said Russian poultry operators will likely include DDGS into rations at 7-8% initially.
“I anticipate the Russian poultry industry will import approximately 500,000 mt of US DDGS within the next 2-3 years,” Kholopov said.
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