June 24, 2009

Corn is a high value energy crop, and while there are deep concerns of ethanol production taking away a considerable size of the corn supply, corn ethanol byproduct DDGS is often neglected and underrated as a good value feed.

Dave Vander Griend, president and CEO of ICM Inc, said recognition of ethanol co-products is very important to understanding the true value of corn as a food and energy crop.

Ethanol production returns about one-third of the corn it uses in the form of DDGS for livestock feed. The nutritional value of that feed is also 50-percent better than raw corn, according to Vander Griend.

When harvesting a hectare of corn for ethanol production, half of the harvest is used to make ethanol and the other half is returned in nutritional value to feed livestock.

Vander Griend said this feed credit should be calculated when determining the overall demand for corn for ethanol production and the lifecycle analysis for ethanol.

In a comparison between corn, switchgrass and sugarcane as feedstock for ethanol production, Vander Griend concluded that all three could provide fuel but only corn provides both fuel and food.