Extension, Cooperative
Date of this Version
8-2010
Document Type
Report
Citation
A joint project of the Nebraska Corn Board and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, August 2010, 24 pages
Abstract
Introduction
Beef calves from weaning until they enter feedlots, developing heifers, and beef cows are fed primarily forage diets. Especially in the winter, forages are low in protein and phosphorus and need to be supplemented. Corn milling co-products are excellent sources of both protein and phosphorus and fi t nicely into winter supplementation programs. Corn milling co-products are also an excellent source of energy and are particularly well suited to forage based diets.
Two primary types of milling processes currently exist, resulting in quite diff erent feed products. The dry milling process produces distillers grains plus solubles (DGS), and the wet milling process produces corn gluten feed (CGF). These feeds can be marketed as wet feeds or they can be dried and marketed as either dry corn gluten feed (DCGF) or dry distillers grains (DDG) with or without solubles. For the purposes of this publication, wet corn gluten feed (WCGF), wet distillers grains plus solubles (WDGS), DCGF, and dried distillers grains plus solubles (DDGS) will be discussed. The term DGS will be used for undiff erentiated discussion about WDGS and DDGS. The majority of ethanol plant expansions are dry milling plants that produce DGS; however, an increase in supply of WDGS is also expected. Therefore, these feeds may be very attractive for beef producers to use as feed sources. This publication will briefl y review the milling process, then discuss nutrient content and feeding value, followed by feeding strategies. Finally, storage methods will be outlined.