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Council Markets DDGS In Southeast Mexico

When thinking of emerging markets for U.S. grains and co-products, places like Africa and Southeast Asia may easily come to mind. Southeast Mexico, however, may hold the key to new opportunities in a country that has been a strong partner for U.S. agriculture throughout the years.

Last week, U.S. Grains Council (USGC) staff spent time in the southeastern region of Mexico, sharing the results of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) trials with ranchers in the area who have not been aware of the product and its nutritional components in their animals’ feed.

“Southeastern Mexico is the country’s source for feeder cattle in northern Mexico. Producers rely on grassing and dual purpose to manage their cattle. By teaching how to supplement their cattle with DDGS-based concentrates, we are helping them become more efficient and productive,” said Javier Chávez, USGC marketing specialist in Mexico.

“This market is very spread out, and no grain company has the ability to reach them as the Council does with their programs. Perhaps, in the short term, the results are difficult to measure, but as some of them grow, they will have the backing that our educational program has given them along with the development of suppliers to the region that we hope will become important end users as well.”

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To close the program, the team traveled to Campeche, Mexico, where they presented the results of two different DDGS trials – one on calves and the other on dairy cows – to the Nuevo Durango Mennonite camp. USGC Consultant Eduardo Christensen (pictured) presented the results before USGC memorandum of understanding (MOU) partner PROMEXA offered an overview of its DDGS base concentrate.

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Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.