DDGS Feeding Trails Underway in Algeria

The first distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) feeding trials in Algeria, organized by the U.S. Grains Council, are nearing completion with a second trial scheduled to begin within a month. Currently DDGS is being utilized with 24 dairy cows at an inclusion rate of 32 percent. According to farmer reports, the product has been well received.

• “The trial has passed the 60 day mark and is expected to finish at the end of this month,” said Kurt Shultz, USGC director for the Mediterranean and Africa. “Milk quality parameters are being monitored,” he added. The trial is being conducted in cooperation with a private grain importer, ECI Boudibab, which imports approximately 500,000 metric tons (19.7 million bushels) of corn annually. Dr. Abdella Ait Boulahsen, USGC consultant, was recently in Algeria to assist in organizing the protocol for the poultry trials which will be conducted in cooperation with ONAB, a state owned poultry company. ONAB imports approximately 400,000 tons (15.7 million bushels) of corn per year, producing 1.5 million tons of compound feed. “The DDGS in the poultry trials will be utilized at an inclusion rate of 5 to 7.5 percent which is typical for low energy broiler diets in Algeria,” Ait Boulahsen said. By involving Algeria’s two largest grain importers in these trials, the Council will gain national credibility for the trials and their outcomes. “This involvement will pay dividends when both the private sector and government importers are lobbying jointly for the removal of the 30 percent import duty on DDGS,” said Malek Djebaili, USGC consultant in Algeria. Both the dairy cow and poultry trials are being conducted courtesy of the USDA Quality Samples Program which allowed the Council to ship 44 tons of U.S. DDGS to Algeria earlier this year. The trials serve to introduce a new feed product to Algerian end-users who currently import 2.4 million tons (94.4 million bushels) of corn annually with 90 percent destined for the poultry sector. According to Shultz, the poultry sector alone could utilize 150,000 tons of DDGS if the import duty is removed and if the Council is successful in educating the poultry sector in the use of DDGS in poultry rations. The ruminant sector has the long-term potential to exceed that of the poultry sector in terms of volume of DDGS utilized. Both these sectors are part of the Council’s long-term market development strategy for Algeria.