OMAHA (DTN) -- Except for the first week of the month, the dried distillers grain market was at a standstill for most of January.

(DTN file photo)

According to the spot price averages gathered by DTN, DDG prices averaged $114 the first week of January, then fell slightly to an average of $111 where they remained for the remainder of the month.

One reason for this stagnation is a lack of demand on the export side, according to Mike McCartan, merchandiser for U.S. Commodities in Minneapolis. That absence of export demand has prevented prices from pushing upward, he said.

Some of that slow-down in export demand may come from the celebration of the Chinese lunar New Year, he said, as export demand typically slows down then.

"A lot of exports come into China as they are ramping up, getting ready for the new year," he said. "That usually lasts a couple weeks into February and picks up again."

The lack of movement in the market, however, means that DDG supplies are holding their own.

"Supply is pretty good out there now," he said. "Most producers are not having an issue getting their hands on DDGs."

Several new ethanol plants have come online and are helping to boost supplies, McCartan added.

The market is starting to pick up, however, as prices began a slight nudge upward in the last few days of January.

"DDGs rebounded lately as we saw rail equipment more accessible and more DDGS going out by rail," McCartan said.

And although the corn board has softened slightly in the past couple weeks, DDG prices have not followed suit, although there has been some decrease in the deferred months.

"Corn and DDGs both are slowing down in February. We are seeing markets soften as we are going into February and March," he said. "But it remains to be seen where we go from here."

For the next few weeks, however, McCartan said he expects the DDG market to continue with the sideways motion.

"There's a chance prices could come back a little bit, but I don't foresee any huge movement on the immediate horizon," he said.

McCartan said he would advise producers needing to purchase DDGs to lock in some supply for February, but wait to see if March prices soften a bit.

"Producers should get some coverage on for February, but watch closely on the deferred periods," he said, "as we're seeing March at a slight discount to February."

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DISTILLERS GRAIN SPOT PRICES

*The spot prices gathered by DTN are only intended to reflect general market trends and may vary. Please contact individual plant or merchandiser for exact prices.

If you would be willing to take a weekly phone call and have your distiller grain spot prices listed in this feature, please contact Cheryl Anderson at (308) 224-1527 or (800) 369-7875, or e-mail cheryl.anderson@dtn.com.

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USDA MARKET NEWS/DISTILLER GRAIN PRICES

CORNBELT WEEKLY FEEDSTUFFS (Tue Feb 2, 2010)

Distillers Dried Grains:

FOB the plant 10 pct moisture; 28-30 pct protein

CALIFORNIA WHOLESALE FEEDSTUFF PRICES (Tue Feb 2, 2010)

Distillers Dry Grains 

FOB Truck NA

 Rail Delivered California Points 160.00-165.00 unch-up 1.00

PACIFIC NORTHWEST WEEKLY FEED (Tue Feb 2, 2010)

Offers for Distillers Dried Grains delivered by rail to feed mills in the Pacific Northwest were 150.00 to 157.00, steady to 5.00 lower compared with week ago offers. Offers for distillers dried grains trans-loaded onto trucks and delivered to Willamette Valley dairies were 165.00 to 174.00, also steady to 5.00 lower than last week's offers.

*All prices quoted per ton unless otherwise noted

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DISTILLERS GRAINS IN THE NEWS

$2.5 Million Awarded to Saskatchewan Livestock and Forage Research Projects

The Saskatchewan Agriculture Development Fund has awarded a total of $2.5 million in funding for livestock and forage-related research projects, Lab Canada reported. The projects chosen range from livestock feeds, bison production, and beef and cattle production. Research projects relating to ethanol co-products include:

-- Integration/Feeding Value of Newly Developed Hulless Barleys (High Energy) and New Co-products in Sustainable Beef and Dairy Production, University of Saskatchewan, College of Agriculture and Bioresources, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, $98,000.

-- Branded Feed Products for Cattle from By-products of Grain, Pulse and Oilseeds Processing, University of Saskatchewan, College of Agriculture and Bioresources, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, $120,500.

-- The Effect of Feeding Dried Distillers Grains on the Animal Health of Feedlot Cattle, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, $56,000.

(Lab Canada, Feb. 1, 2010)

(http://www.labcanada.com/…)

Distillers Grains Exports Exploded Last Year

During 2009's volatile environment for ethanol plants, distillers grains acted as safety valve when ethanol producers spent nearly the first six months of the year battling red ink, the Des Moines Register reported. Distillers grains, which typically account for as much as a quarter of the revenue at ethanol plants, especially aided ethanol makers as exports exploded, particularly in China where exports grew from 8,000 tons in 2008 to more than 400,000 tons in 2009. China is a large importer of U.S.-produced distillers grain, especially for its growing cattle population. This year, however, distillers exports may face a potential hurdle because of a new Chinese law requiring that by May, imported process grains must be registered with the country's Minister of Agriculture.

(Des Moines Register, Jan. 31, 2010)

(http://www.desmoinesregister.com/…)

Nebraska Ethanol Plant to Open

The new owners of the ethanol plant in Cambridge, Neb., re-opened the plant Feb. 2, though production is not expected to begin for another month, the McCook Gazette reported. Eric Meeuwsen said his family will operate the plant as Nebraska Corn Processing LLC. Most of the 19 employees of the 40 million gallon plant worked at the plant with the former owners. The new owners plan to push production to 44 million gallons of ethanol per year, as well as producing 420,000 tons of wet distillers grain. The plant had previously operated for nine months, but had sat idle for about one year.

(McCook Gazette, Jan. 29, 2009)

(http://www.mccookgazette.com/…)

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DDG CONFERENCES (EVENTS SOLELY DEDICATED TO DDGs)

*Distillers Grains Technology Council Inc.'s 14th Annual Distillers Grains Symposium

The Distillers Grain Technology Council will hold its 14th Annual Distillers Grains Symposium on May 12-13, 2010, at the Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel & Suites in Indianapolis, Ind. For information, contact the DGTC office at (502) 852-1575 or (800) 759-3448, or check the DGTC website (http://www.distillersgrains.org).

*Fuel Ethanol Workshop

BBI International will hold its 2010 Fuel Ethanol Workshop on June 14-17 in St. Louis, Mo. The Workshop will include a track of distillers grain and co-products. For more information, contact BBI at (701) 746-8385

EVENTS INCLUDING SESSIONS ON DDGs

*Feed and Storage of Distillers Grain "Coffeeshop Knowledge" Workshop

The Kansas Extension will be holding a series of brief workshops for farmers and ranchers in Phillips, Rooks and Ellis counties. The Coffeeshop Knowledge session will consist of three programs held on Wednesdays. A session on Feb. 10 will focus on feeding and storage of distillers grain and reducing hay waste. No RSVP is necessary. For more information contact the local county extension office.

(If you are sponsoring or know of any event, conference or workshop on distillers grain, and would like to list it in the DTN Weekly Distillers Grain Update, please contact Cheryl Anderson (see contact info below).

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DDG LINKS/RESOURCES

Organizations

*Distillers Grain Technology Council

http://www.distillersgrains.org

*National Corn Growers Association Corn Distillers Grain Brochure

http://ncga.com/…

*Iowa Corn

http://www.iowacorn.org/…

*Renewable Fuels Association - Ethanol Co-Products

http://www.ethanolrfa.org/…

*American Coalition for Ethanol: http://www.ethanol.org/…

*U.S. Grains Council

http://www.grains.org/…

*South Dakota Corn Utilization Council

http://www.drieddistillersgrains.com

Government Sites

*Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship/Office of Renewable Fuels & Coproducts

http://www.distillersgrains.com

University Sites

*University of Minnesota - Distillers Grain By-Products in Livestock

and Poultry Feed

http://www.ddgs.umn.edu

*University of Illinois - Illinois Livestock Integrated Focus Team Distillers Grain site

http://ilift.traill.uiuc.edu/…

University of Nebraska - Beef Cattle Production By-Product Feeds site

http://beef.unl.edu/…

*University of Nebraska Extension

http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/…

*Iowa Beef Center - Iowa State University

http://www.iowabeefcenter.org/…

*University of Missouri - Byproducts Resource Page

http://agebb.missouri.edu/…

*South Dakota State University - Dairy Science Department - Dairy cattle research

http://dairysci.sdstate.edu/…

(select "Distillers Grains" from the topic menu)

*Purdue University Renewable Energy Web Site

http://www.extension.purdue.edu/…

(select "Biofuels Co-Products from the menu)

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We welcome any comments/suggestions for this feature. Please let us know what information is valuable to you that we could include in the Distillers Grain Weekly Update. Please feel free to contact Cheryl Anderson at (308) 224-1527 or (800) 369-7875, or e-mail cheryl.anderson@dtn.com.

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