As ethanol production expands and corn prices go up, more livestock producers living near ethanol plants are supplementing their feed with distillers dried grains. Currently the product can not be efficiently transported very far from the ethanol plant, limiting the number of producers who can take advantage of it. But Agricultural Research Service scientists may have found a way to expand the product's range.
ARS agricultural engineeer Kurt Rosentrater has turned DDGS from corn-based ethanol production into high-quality pellets using processing equipment at a commercial feed mill. The process does not require adding extra ingredients to encourage binding, and the heating used in the process did not harm the nutrient content of the DDGS.
To date, there are no commercial DDGS pellets available for livestock.
Rosentrater is at the ARS North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory, Brookings, S.D. He does this research with colleagues at ARS and at nearby South Dakota State University.