A delegation of livestock producers from Ecuador visited the Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company (CVEC) plant in Minnesota this week to get a better understanding of dried distiller’s grains (DDGs) production.

“We were honored to welcome the delegation from Ecuador. DDGs are an important co-product in ethanol production and we produce about 120,000 tons of DDGs a year,” said Chad Friese, CEO of CVEC and board member of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association.

The delegation, comprised of small to mid-size poultry, swine and dairy producers from five provinces in Ecuador, were on a visit organized by the U.S Grains Council and Minnesota Corn Growers Association to learn about DDGs and the possibility of using it for their respective operations. The delegation was also given an extensive briefing on ethanol production at CVEC as well as the ethanol industry in Minnesota.

“The DDGs we produce are generally used in Minnesota or shipped out to the west coast to be fed there. A small portion is exported overseas,” said Friese.

In 2016, Minnesota’s ethanol industry produced 3.5 million tons of DDGs, which was sufficient to meet the annual feed requirements of over 2.5 million beef and dairy cattle or the entire inventory of cattle and calves in Minnesota.