Distillers’ Grains for Cows: Boon or Bust?
Date
2009-02-28
Authors
Strohbehn, Daryl
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Authors
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Series
Cornbelt Cow-Calf Conference
The Cornbelt Cow-Calf Conference is one of the longest running and most successful conferences of its type in the Midwest. For over forty years, the conference has provided an opportunity for producers, researchers, and over 70 industry representatives to come together to explore current topics and issues. This concentrated one-day conference focuses on management and production practices that contribute to making the cow-calf business profitable and competitive on a long-term basis.
Department
Abstract
The United States’, and especially Iowa’s, ethanol industry has increased dramatically resulting in millions of tons of the distillers grains co-products produced annually. For every one bushel of corn processed there is a yield of about 2.8 gallons of ethanol and about 17 to 18 pounds of distillers’ grains (DGs) on a dry basis. Although one cannot be certain of future markets, it appears that large quantities of DGs will be available to the livestock industry for many years. Will the DGs remain the same? No, as we speak many ethanol plants are changing their manufacturing techniques, extracting corn oil and other by-products, which change the nutrient content and density of the DGs.