In an effort to continue building demand for DDGS, the US Grains Council sponsored a team of Mexican nutritionists to the United States for a short course at the Northern Crops Institute at North Dakota State University. During the course, participants listened to presentations given by experts in each of the livestock sectors.

It is the Council’s intention that, when equipped with in-depth knowledge about DDGS, the nutritionists will become promoters of DDGS to end-users in Mexico, assisting in incorporating DDGS to increased ration formulations. In addition to the course, the team was afforded the opportunity to meet with Council member POET and saw DDGS being utilized in rations on a dairy farm.

"It is my impression the inclusion of this ingredient (DDGS) and overall demand will continue to grow substantially in the future," said USGC Director in Mexico and Central America, Julio Hernandez. According to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Mexico imported 1.2 million metric tons of US DDGS in 2008, an increase from 708,000 tons in 2007.

The Mexican feedmillers association has projected Mexico will manufacture 26.6 million tons of feed in 2009. This number is only 78 per cent of the total feedmill capacity for production. Based on that fact, Mexican feedmills have the ability to process more than 34 million tons of feed grains in 2009. "There is plenty of room for growth in the Mexican market, absolutely," said Mr Hernandez.