 |
| Continued expansion of the ethanol industry is not about economics; rather it is about government-mandated fuel standards, said K-State’s James Mintert. |
Mintert said the availability of ethanol byproducts has grown with expanding ethanol production, and recent federal legislation expanding the Renewable Fuels Standard assures continued growth of the ethanol industry. Mintert called the argument for increasing ethanol use to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil more feel-good rhetoric than reality.
“The driver for the ethanol industry is not economics. Demand is driven by government policy, and that has huge implications for the livestock industry over the next few years,” Mintert said.
Mintert said use of corn for fuel will soon rival its use for feed. Projections for 2008 indicate 30% of corn stocks will be devoted to ethanol production. Any glitches in 2008 corn production are likely to cause grain prices to spike “off the chart.” Mintert says more frequent price spikes should be expected along with higher average prices in the future.
“That means cattle producers should pay more attention to corn price risk,” Mintert warned.
Lardy said the future will bring greater availability and more use of byproducts by all cattle production segments. He said the majority of byproduct feeds are likely to result from increased production through the dry-milling process. Through that process, starch is removed for making ethanol, with remaining contents concentrated in the byproducts, which are high in protein and energy. The most commonly used forms are dried and wet distillers’ grains (DGs).
 |
| All phases of the beef production will likely see increased use of ethanol byproducts, said Greg Lardy, NDSU. |
However, Lardy noted that feeding byproducts at high levels usually results in dietary nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) levels in excess of requirements. Byproducts may also be high in sulfur (S), resulting from addition of sulfuric acid to enhance fermentation during processing. The sulfur content of the diet and water source should not exceed a total of 0.4% of the diet. Sulfur toxicity can result in polioencephalomalacia in cattle.
Lardy said the physical nature of byproducts, particularly wet distillers’ grains, creates transportation, handling and storage challenges. Nutrient content also may be variable. Offering a warning for the future, Lardy explained how ethanol processors are exploring processes for extracting fat from distillers’ grains for production of biodiesel.
“That will change the nutrient content, lowering energy values of dried and wet distillers’ grains,” he said. “But it may allow the use of higher levels in some rations.”
— by Troy Smith
Editor’s Note: This article was written under contract or by staff of Angus Productions Inc. (API), which claims copyright to this material. It may not be published or distributed without the express permission of Angus Productions Inc. (API). To request reprint permission and guidelines, contact Shauna Rose Hermel, editor, at (816) 383-5270 or shermel@angusjournal.com.
James Mintert PowerPoint (2.2 Mb .pdf file)
Greg Lardy PowerPoint (2.2 Mb .pdf file)