November 8, 2005

Pioneer, feed manufacturer to study digestible energy in feed corn

Seed company Pioneer Hi-Bred International and feed manufacturer DFS have announced a joint research collaboration to measure levels of digestible energy in feed corn, in an attempt to better manage grain quality in the feed production process.

This research will use proprietary NIR (near infrared) technology developed by Pioneer, to measure grain's digestibility energy for mono-gastric animals such as hogs and poultry.

By measuring corn's digestible energy levels, Iowa-based DFS will be better able to evaluate and manage the grain's nutritional value, thus resulting in more efficient feed production process control.

This collaboration is part of Pioneer's programme to distinguish between the different improved seed products and develop a more efficient grain supply chain system. 

"Corn is our main ingredient in feed production; we have devoted a good deal of time over the past few years to learn about corn's characteristics and how those characteristics impact feed formulation and milling," said Dave Kier, president and general manager of DFS.

"We believe the way to improve quality is to first identify points of uncontrolled variation and then strive to control them," he added.

Agreeing is Dan Jones, pork and poultry business manager of Pioneer, "We believe this is where the feed industry's heading-measuring grain nutrition value to better understand the link between seed genetics and quality feed production."