DDGS imports to Japan at record high

DDGS sales to Japan

The ethanol boom in the US has lead to increasing availability of a high value co-product, Distiller's Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS). Since 2007 Japans imports of DDGS has increased remarkably in 2007 they surpassed the 100,000 MT and by 2009 they had reached 275,000MT. In 2010 the demand surged higher as corn prices increased. The majority of DDGS is being used in dairy cattle feed. One of the key reasons to this increased growth is aggressive trade education activities led by the US grain council. Read more ...

The new Vivergo biorefinery being built at Saltend

The new Vivergo biorefinery being built at Saltend near Hull is nearly complete and the Managing Director of Vivergo Fuels the joint venture behind the plant says operations will begin in late spring. When finished the Vivergo biorefinery will be one of the largest in Europe and each year it will turn 1.1 million tons of locally grown feed wheat into 420 million liters of bioethanol and 500,000 tons of animal feed.

Mr Richards said the company had already started commissioning the "farm end" of the plant where the first stage of the refinery process takes place and the animal feed byproduct is produced. There are two other processing sections which must be finished before fuel can be made but work is more than 95 percent finished. Read more ...

Plant nourishing gene discovered

Scientist at the University of Warwick have discovered a 'nourishing gene' that controls the transfer of nutrients from plant to seed. This discovery is a significant step in understanding the development of seeds from the mother plant. There is also the possibility of better understanding which could help increase global food production.

Dr Jose Gutierrez-Marcos, Associate Professor in the University of Warwick’s School of Life Sciences, said: “These findings have significant implications for global agriculture and food security, as scientists now have the molecular know-how to manipulate this gene by traditional plant breeding or through other methods to improve seed traits, such as increased seed biomass yield. “This understanding of how maize seeds and other cereal grains develop, for example in rice and wheat is vital as the global population relies on these staple products for sustenance." Read more ...