VIETNAMESE grain customers are showing strong interest in using more clean, green and nutritious Australian barley in animal feed rations.

The Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) recently hosted two separate technical webinars for Vietnam’s feed industry – focusing on pigs and dairy – as part of an ongoing campaign that started in 2016 to stimulate demand for Aussie feed grains across Asia.

In total, the two Vietnam feed webinars attracted about 230 representatives of the grains and animal feed industry.

Mary Raynes

AEGIC barley markets manager Mary Raynes led the webinars and presented the latest updates on the Australian grains industry, and the production and availability of Australian feed barley.

Australian experts Lloyd George, Tony Edwards, Megan Edwards and Steve Little shared their insights and practical advice on the benefits of using Australian barley for pigs and dairy cows in Vietnam, including the technical aspects of feed formulations and nutrition.

Ms Raynes said Vietnamese buyers, feed millers and nutritionists expressed very strong interest in potentially using more Australian feed barley.

“The main takeaway for our Vietnamese customers is that both cows and pigs are remarkably flexible animals and can use a variety of different feeds, and Australian barley is a fantastic option for the animal’s health, performance and cost efficiency,” she said.

“Australian barley clearly has a great appeal to Vietnamese buyers and the positive reaction to these webinars shows that these events are delivering valuable insights to customers.

“In particular, the webinar attendees really valued learning more about the practical aspects of how to incorporate Australian feed grains into animal diets.”

AEGIC chief executive officer Richard Simonaitis said the webinars were part of AEGIC’s ongoing efforts to stimulate demand for Australian feed grains in South East Asia through the provision of free technical webinars.

“This is a key area of focus for AEGIC, and we’re excited to be investing in lots more events for feed buyers across Asia in 2021 and beyond,” he said.

“We’ve already seen increased grainflows into South East Asian markets since we started this campaign to stimulate feed grain demand.

“AEGIC is very grateful for the support of the Australian Government’s Agricultural Trade and Market Access Cooperation (ATMAC) Program in this initiative.”

Source: AEGIC