July 2, 2007

Use of ethanol byproducts on US livestock on the rise
 

A study released Friday (June 29) shows that US livestock producers are making good use of byproducts produced when ethanol is made from corn.

About half of the cattle and hog operations in 12 states surveyed fed ethanol byproducts or at least "considered feeding them" to livestock last year, according to a summary of the report produced by the US Department of Agriculture and a Nebraska state agency, the Nebraska Corn Board.

The USDA's National Agriculture Statistics Service surveyed 9,400 livestock operations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Dairy operations, according to the survey, were the biggest users of the byproducts, while hog producers used the least. Thirty-eight percent of the dairy operations surveyed said they fed their animals the byproducts, while only 12 percent of hog producers used the material for feed.

There are now 121 ethanol refineries in the US with the capacity to produce 6.3 billion gallons annually, but another 75 are under construction, and seven existing plants are undergoing expansion, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

USDA Secretary Mike Johanns said earlier this month that the practice of feeding ethanol byproducts - mainly distillers grains and corn gluten feed - has been a "success" for many cattle ranchers that are near ethanol plants but that other livestock have trouble digesting them.