Feeding BioFuels Co-products to Livestock: Challenges to Animal Health NIAA, Sacramento, 4/2/07 Gavin L Meerdink, DVM, D.ABVT.

Feeding BioFuels Co-products to Livestock:Challenges to Animal Health

NIAA, Sacramento, 4/2/07

Gavin L Meerdink, DVM, D.ABVT

Where to put the corn . . . . ?

User Definitions: Based on consistency of product

• Coproduct• the output of a consistent process

– materials from a “consistent,” quality conscious manufacturing process which has “predictable” food value

– (distillers grains, corn gluten, soy hulls, etc.)

• Byproduct• material with inconsistent ingredients or quality that

can not be used for original intended purpose– inconsistent materials; may be unknown constituents– (corn screenings, gin trash, rejected grains, off-spec food

ingredients, litter, rinse water, etc.)

ETHANOL

Confusion

• DG distiller’s grains

• DGSdistiller’s grains with solubles

• DDGS distiller’s dried grains with solubles

• Corn gluten feed--wet

• Corn gluten feed

• Corn gluten meal

• Brewers dried grains

• Malt sprouts

• Distillers dried grains

2 Ethanol plant process types

• Wet Milling

• Dry Grind

Ethanol plant process types

• Wet Milling – 1st: fractionation

» steep in weak sulfurous acid solution

– starch, germ, fiber, protein

• Starch: hi fructose corn syrup

ethanol → DDGS (minor source)

• Fiber: corn gluten feed (wet or dry)

• Protein: corn gluten meal

Ethanol plant process types

• Wet Milling

• Dry Grind• Entire corn kernel ground, initial process• Fermentation → ethanol

→ DDGS

• Most of the ethanol from dry grind process plants

Issues for Health, corn coproducts

• Variability (plant to plant; load to load)» Routine analyses ‘may be’ warranted

• wet wt. v. dry wt.

Issues for Health, corn coproducts

• Variability (plant to plant; load to load)

• Phosphorus– Ca:P ratios in cattle diets can vary 1:1 to 7:1– If < 1:1 problem

Composition % D.M. (NRC 1982)

protein

Crude

fiber P S

Corn 10.9 2.9 0.3 0.12

DDGS 2528-33

9.95.4-10.4

0.70.42-0.99

0.33(var)

Corn Gluten Feed

26 9.7 0.8 0.23

Corn Gluten Meal

67 2.2 0.5 0.39

Ca - P concentrations & Ratio Perspectives

0.7

0.03

0.15

0.36

0.16

0.35

0.29

0.71

0.82

0.5

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

commoncattlediets

corn

DDGS

CGF

CGM

Ca (%) P (%)

Issues for Health, corn coproducts

• Variability (plant to plant; load to load)

• Phosphorus → urolithiasis• urinary calculi, calculosis, “water belly”, kidney

stones• Inversion of Ca:P ratio• Mg also a factor

– Also “high” in DDGS and CGF– Max tolerated, ruminant diets ~ 0.4%

Issues for Health, corn coproducts

• Variability (plant to plant; load to load)

• Phosphorus → urolithiasis

• Sulphur → Polioencephalomalacia

– S concentrations > ~0.25 % hazard– (difficult interpretation: multiple S compounds besides

sulfates and sulfides . . . AA, organic S’s, 5 oxidation states)

– Copper (low diet—relation)– Gradual diet incorporation: especially naïve animals

Composition % D.M. (NRC 1982)

protein

Crude

fiber P S

Corn 10.9 2.9 0.3 0.12

DDGS 2528-33

9.95.4-10.4

0.70.42-0.99

0.33(var)

Corn Gluten Feed

26 9.7 0.8 0.23

Corn Gluten Meal

67 2.2 0.5 0.39

Issues for Health, corn coproducts

• Variability (plant to plant; load to load)

• Phosphorus → urolithiasis

• Sulphur → sulfates

• Copper deficiency– Given affinity of Cu and SO4’s, DDGS & CGF have

been implicated in decreased Cu absorption

Issues for Health, corn coproducts: Other

• Whatever else came with Corn + plant additions during processing

– Mycotoxins (do survive processing)

• Aflatoxins: year/region; milk residues

• Ochratoxin: potential, regional

• Fumonisins: hazard in equine diets

– Antimicrobial agents (processing aids)

• Virginiamycin, others (?)– Residues (animal products, environment)

Future? ( . . for example)

• US Dept of Energy investment $385 mil in six plants throughout US: – “Cellulosic ethanol conversion technologies &

commercialization”– Research on novel source materials:

• plant cellulose materials, e.g., stovers, straws, grasses, cobs, etc.

• Vegetable wastes• Wood chips• Landfill green & wood waste

BIODIESEL

• Sources: What are they?– Soybeans– other oil seed sources– Lipids . . other sources

• What are the coproducts??

Biodiesel CoProducts issues:

• Glycerin (glycerol)– Energy source– Nutritional research needed

• Methanol . . • Animals, particularly ruminants, less sensitive to

methanol than humans

• CO2 + H2O –> O=CH–OH (formate) –> O=CH2 (formaldehyde) –> CH3–OH (methanol) –> CH4 (methane)

Biodiesel CoProducts issues:

• Source dependent• e.g., raw soybeans do contain antimetabolite

compounds

• Residues– Particularly from non-ag crop residues??

Contamination: e.g., Dioxins

• Twenty dioxin (D)/furan (F)/polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners were measured in yellow grease (waste fats and oils from restaurants) and in rendered fat from cattle, poultry, swine and mixed animal species (8 -18 samples per commodity). The total D/F/PCB levels found ranged from 0 to 1.6 parts per trillion (ppt) toxic equivalents (TEQ). These levels were below the 3.0 ppt TEQ maximum residue limit (MRL) recently proposed by the European Communities (EC) for D/F/PCB in animal fat. (Dr. Lovell, FDA, 2005)

Grain CoProducts use future:– CoProducts will change as processes change

for extraction of new product• New product extraction techniques

– Economics• Tax abatements• Source commodities prices• Processing costs/efficiencies

• More attention will be focused toward coproducts when profit from them is needed.

Presently:

“The SAFETY of grains coproducts at this time ultimately rests upon the user.”

* * * *

Eventually:Plants should become more involved with

product safety and problem investigation. (for their own protection)

Acknowledgements

• Ronald Belyea, U. of Mo

• Kent Rausch, U of IL

• Mike Tumbleson, U of IL

• V. J. Singh, U of IL

Rausch, Belyea: The future of Coproducts from corn processing. Appl Bioch Biotech 128(47-85), 2006.

Mineral Tolerances of Animals, 2nd Rev Edition. NRC of the National Academies, 2005

Cost Comparisons (Feedstuffs; 3/26/07; Chicago)

$/Ton Protein %

Corn (@ $2.10/bu) $147 10.9

Soybean Meal $217 48

DDGS $133 25

Corn Gluten Feed $98 26

Corn Gluten Meal $365 67