Ethanol co-products becoming more useful as livestock feed

More livestock operations across the Midwest are feeding their animals distillers dried grains left over from ethanol production. According to National Agriculture Statistics Service numbers from last year, 38 percent of dairy operations, 36 percent of cattle-on-feed operations, 13 percent of other beef cattle operations and 12 percent of hog operations were using ethanol co-products. Chairman of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board Wendell Shauman says the only down side to the use of distillers dried grains is in getting them to the animals themselves.

Wendell says he hopes to see and increase in the availability and understanding concerning the use of distillers dried grains over the coming year. The ICMB is also looking to make distillers dried grains more useful to hog operations.