Distillers Grains for Dairy Cattle

Feeding distillers grains is nothing new; such products have been fed to cattle for more than a century. What is new, however, are the many ethanol plants now in the upper Midwest and the increased interest in feeding their co-product, distillers grains. This report is an overview of the nutritional value of distillers grains and gives some guidelines for feeding

Emissions Savings in the Corn-Ethanol Life Cycle from Feeding Coproducts to Livestock

Environmental regulations on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from corn (Zea mays L.)-ethanol production require accurate assessment methods to determine emissions savings from coproducts that are fed to livestock. We investigated current use of coproducts in livestock diets and estimated the magnitude and variability in the GHG emissions credit for coproducts in the corn-ethanol life cycle. The coproduct GHG emissions credit varied by more than twofold, from 11.5 to 28.3 g CO2e per MJ of ethanol produced, depending on the fraction of coproducts used without drying, the proportion of coproduct used to feed beef cattle (Bos taurus) vs. dairy or swine (Sus scrofa), and the location of corn production. Regional variability in the GHG intensity of crop production and future livestock feeding trends will determine the magnitude of the coproduct GHG offset against GHG emissions elsewhere in the corn-ethanol life cycle. Expansion of annual U.S. corn-ethanol production to 57 billion liters by 2015, as mandated in current federal law, will require feeding of coproduct at inclusion levels near the biological limit to the entire U.S. feedlot cattle, dairy, and swine herds. Under this future scenario, the coproduct GHG offset will decrease by 8% from current levels due to expanded use by dairy and swine, which are less efficient in use of coproduct than beef feedlot cattle. Because the coproduct GHG credit represents 19 to 38% of total life cycle GHG emissions, accurate estimation of the coproduct credit is important for determining the net impact of corn-ethanol production on atmospheric warming and whether corn-ethanol producers meet state- and national-level GHG emissions regulations

Feeding the high producing cow

Dairy cows must consume a lot of feed to achieve the levels of production expected today; however, the nutrient needs of dairy cows vary immensely between the dry period and peak lactation. Requirements for the former often can be met with forages alone, whereas the latter may require a considerable amount of high-energy feeds such as grains and supplemental fat and ruminally undegradable proteins of good quality that are digestible in the gastrointestinal tract. The challenge for a dairy feeding program is to meet the cow’s nutrient needs while minimizing body weight loss, not causing digestive upsets, and maintaining health