Nineteen feed manufacturers from Southeast Asia recently attended the Feed Manufacturing Technology course at the Northern Crops Institute (NCI) in Fargo, N.D., to hear about feed manufacturing technology through presentations, processing demonstrations and hands-on training. USSEC collaborated with the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, North Dakota Soybean Council and South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council to co-sponsor the event.

Participants learned about the latest technical information to better understand today’s feed manufacturing industry and the benefits of U.S. soy for animal nutrition.

“In shipping soybeans to Asia, the United States has a definite advantage over our competitors in Brazil and Argentina because we can ship from the Pacific Northwest directly to Asia. The shorter shipping time results in lower freight costs,” said Kim Koch, Ph.D., NCI feed center manager. “There is tremendous potential for animal production in China, India and Southeast Asia, and the more we can do to help them get quality U.S. soybeans to make quality meal, the better off everyone will be.”

The group visited an integrated swine production facility and feed mill in Cando, N.D., export facilities in Portland, Ore., and the Ag Processing Export Terminal in Aberdeen, Wash. Participants saw firsthand the quality, efficiency and reliability of U.S. soy production.

Lead instructor, Kim Koch, has more than 20 years of experience in international consulting with the feed manufacturing industry and has lectured on feed mill efficiency and design, mixing, particle size reduction and pelleting.