According to USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, Japan imported 198,000 metric tons of US DDGS in 2008, an increase of 114,000 tons from 2007. In order to continue educating feed and livestock industry professionals, the Council organized a Japanese pelleting team to travel to the Midwest this week for a DDGS pelleting workshop at the Northern Crops Institute.

The team members represented companies utilizing 80 per cent of DDGS imported by Japan. "Since the members have been studying the production of pellets with DDGS at their own companies, this workshop contributes to their development of better pellets with a higher inclusion of DDGS, which will ultimately invite further growth in the consumption of US DDGS in the Japanese market," said Hiroko Sakashita, USGC associate director in Japan.

In addition to training sessions, the team met with Council member North Dakota Corn Utilization Council. After meeting the group, Ted Hattori, of Council member VeraSun Marketing LLC, said, "I believe there is a very large potential for US DDGS in Japan. Face-to-face meetings here in the United States through the Council and its members greatly enhance our visibility to potential customers." The team will also have the opportunity to tour one of Council member POET's ethanol production facilities today.