Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
I just read that 80% of corn is used for animal feed.
|
That figure was valid before the mandated ethanol program started consuming corn starting in 2005. The following is a breakdown on corn usage in 2010:
"The best estimates for consumption offered by Good and Irwin are 4.9 billion bushels for ethanol, 5.1 billion bushels for feed, 2.0 billion for exports, 1.4 billion for other processing, and 5% ending stocks at 674 million bushels. "
Of these uses, livestock feed consumption is the most responsive to changes in corn prices, ethanol and corn exports less so.
A bunch of different livestock and rancher associations are attempting to get the ethanol mandate temporarily suspended until corn production gets back to normal levels. Good luck trying to get that done with the current administration. See articles below:
http://www.argusleader.com/article/2...yssey=nav|head
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2012/J...hanol-Mandate/
Here is a Forbes article on the effect ethanol and drought is having on corn prices:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybel...-consequences/
Dried brewer's grain isn't a direct replacement for whole corn. Compared with whole corn, dried brewer's grain has much lower starch, slightly higher protein and fat levels and has some added vitamins that aren't present in whole corn. Basically the brewing process uses yeast to consume the starch content of the corn in an anaerobic environment, producing ethanol, CO2, and yeast biomass containing various vitamins and proteins, but this process consumes a portion of the total caloric content of the corn in the process, so the brewer's grains end up being a less energy dense product than the whole corn you started with. And you can't just feed brewer's grains to livestock as their main feed as you can with corn. Most of the articles I have read talk about how it is an inexpensive feed additive, but discuss how much dried brewer's grains can be added to poultry or dairy cow feed without having adverse effects on their performance.