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Distillers’ grains are a by-product from the process of grain-based ethanol production and can be used as an economical commodity in feeding cattle. As long as bioethanol production continues at current levels, the feedlot industry in Canada will feed distillers’ grains in order to produce beef as efficiently as our trading partners. Most distillers’ grains in North America come from corn with some from sorghum and wheat. Corn distillers’ grains are sold produced in Eastern Canada and the U.S. Wheat distillers’ grains, or a mixture of wheat and corn, are produced in Western Canada.
Sections
Production and Types
Distillers’ grains are the major by-product from the production of ethanol. To produce biofuels, cereal grains are heated and fermented. The starch is converted into ethanol and removed. The mixture of concentrated protein, fibre, oil and minerals, which remains is called stillage. Stillage is sold either wet (20 to 30% dry matter) or dry (90% dry matter). Stillage remaining after the fermentation and distillation process is low in solids and is sometimes fed directly to livestock through the watering system (thin stillage). |
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Typically, stillage is further separated into distillers’ grains and solubles. Solubles are recovered and incorporated into the distillers’ grains, called distillers’ grains with solubles (DGS). DGS can be used wet (WDGS) but is often dried (DDGS) in order to reduce
shipping costs. |
Composition
There is considerable variation in the composition of distillers’ grains. Composition may be partially reflected by whether grain is processed by dry or wet milling before it is fermented. Because starch is almost completely removed in the process to distill ethanol, concentration of other components, except calcium, is enhanced significantly. For example, fat, protein, fibre, phosphorus and sulfur are roughly are three times as concentrated in DDGS than in the original grain. |
![]() Steer after consuming 40% corn DDGS diet. Photo credit: Lee-Anne Walter |
COMPOSITION OF DISTILLERS' GRAINS* AND PARENT GRAIN, % DRY BASIS** | ||||
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Corn distillers’ grain | Corn grain | Wheat distillers’ grain | Wheat grain | |
Protein | 29.4 to 32.0 | 9.8 | 30.6 to 44.7 | 14.2 |
Crude fat (oil) | 10.0 to 11.8 | 4.1 | 3.7 to 4.4 | 2.3 |
Fibre (NDF) | 34.1 to 48.1 | 10.8 | 22.7 to 36.5 | 11.8 |
Calcium | 0.02 to 0.03 | 0.03 | 0.02 to 0.03 | 0.05 |
Phosphorus | 0.68 to 1.10 | 0.32 | 0.83 to 0.95 | 0.44 |
*Encompasses both wet and dry distillers’ grains
** Corn and wheat distillers’ values from Lethbridge Research Station, University of Saskatchewan and Spiehs et al. Journal of Animal Science (2002) vol. 80, p.2639. Grain values from NRC, Nutrient Requirements of Beef Cattle (2000).
Dietary starch, fibre and protein levels can affect the pH of a ruminant’s digestive tract, which may in turn affect how well various microbes survive and compete in the animal’s rumen, intestine and manure. This can effect animal health and welfare, food safety and feed efficacy. The manner in which DDGS are dried can also affect nutritional value. Due to the various factors (grain type, moisture, solubles, milling and drying) that can influence composition, chemical analyses are recommended before using these by-products to feed beef cattle. |
![]() 40% Wheat DDGS diet Photo credit: Lee-Anne Walter |
Receiving and Handling
DDGS can be transported and handled as any grain commodity. It is uneconomical to transport WDGS any great distance from a biofuel plant. WDGS may deteriorate quickly in the open. WDGS may be stored for many months with under 10% loss of nutrients if:
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![]() 40% Corn DDGS diet. Photo credit: Lee-Anne Walter |
Feeding
DDGS and WDGS are both very palatable when mixed into a complete feed, or fed as a supplement that is top-dressed onto the base diet.
DDGS and WDGS can be fed without mixing into a ration, preferably from troughs but also off frozen ground, as a forage supplement.
Feed Attributes
DDGS are widely used in feedlot rations throughout North America because it reduces feed costs. The expansion of North America’s ethanol industry has increased feed grain costs and subsequently increased the use of distillers’ grains as livestock feed.
DGs can be a valuable source of dietary protein or energy for cattle, depending how they are fed.
At levels generally below 15% of the diet, dry basis, DGS is an excellent alternative to soybean or canola meal as a protein supplement. DGS is relatively high in rumen bypass protein with DDGS having slightly more than WDGS. This can mean that when there is a protein deficit from the basal diet, corn and wheat DGS can be more effective than soybean or canola meal in meeting the protein requirement of calves with a high protein demand, e.g. light weight and rapidly growing. |
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At levels up to 50% of the diet, dry basis, DGS is an excellent source of energy. Once the animals protein requirements have been met, excess dietary protein is used for energy instead.
Due to the high levels of fibre in DGs, there has been interest in using DG in place of dietary roughage. However, the DG fibre particles are too small to effectively maintain proper rumen function and health, and have been associated with increased incidence of rumen acidosis and liver abscesses.
A recent Canadian study found that 10% barley silage in a diet containing wheat DGS was a minimum to prevent a rumen pH drop (increased acidity) in calves fed barley diets supplemented with wheat DGS.
Benefits for feedlot cattle
Corn WDGS enhances feed efficiency of corn-based diets by up to 13% with response proportional to the level in the diet up to 50% (dry basis). Corn DDGS enhances feed efficiency up to 5%, with the maximum response from between 10 and 20% inclusion in the diet.
At dietary inclusion rates up to 20%, wheat DDGS gives similar feed efficiency to a barley-based control. Above 20% inclusion, wheat DDGS has had no effect or caused a slight decline in feed efficiency, by up to 9%.
Concerns for feedlot cattle
Phosphorus (P) levels are high in DGS. Diets containing DGS must be fortified with additional limestone over the amount used in grain diets to provide a calcium (Ca) to P ratio of at least 1.1 to 1, and preferably 1.5 to 1. |
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Sulfur (S) levels are high in DGS and quite variable (0.35 to 1.4%). Levels of S in the diet above 0.4% can be toxic to feedlot cattle. S toxicity has not become a major problem so far with feeding DGS and has been the subject of a recent research project funded by the BCRC (see below). |
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Because mineral levels in diets containing DG often exceed animal requirements, manure from cattle fed DGS are unusually high in nitrogen (N) and P. In the application of cattle manure from DGS fed cattle to agricultural land, P is usually the nutrient that will limit the amount of manure that can be applied to avoid P run-off and leaching into groundwater. Nutrient management programs can be used to take soil and crop requirement into account in good management of manure from feedlot cattle. |
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Feeding DGS to feedlot cattle does not consistently affect carcass grade and meat quality. However, there are two points worth noting:
- Some studies have shown that DGS inclusion decreases marbling of meat but this is not a consistent finding and it cannot be easily explained.
- Feeding DGS negatively affects meat colour and colour stability of beef in the retail case but significance of this in affecting consumer satisfaction is less clear. This effect of feeding DGS in feedlot diets can be counteracted by providing additional vitamin E.
There have been concerns that using DGS in feedlot diets may increase shedding of E. coli 0157.H7. However, results have been conflicting and results of some studies, including a recent one in Canada, have not confirmed this finding. Many factors affect shedding of E.coli 0157.H7 by feedlot cattle. With quality control during processing, beef from cattle fed DGS is as safe as beef from cattle fed conventional diets.
Feeding distillers’ grains to backgrounding cattle
DGS is an excellent energy and/or protein feed to use in completely mixed rations for backgrounding cattle for the feedlot. Calves fed forage/barley grain diets in western Canada where wheat DDGS has replaced most of the barley grain have performed equally to calves on the forage/barley control.
DGS can be an ideal supplement for calves grazing summer pasture, stockpiled wheat or other forage in the late fall and early winter before being shipped to the feedlot.
Feeding distillers’ grains to cow-calf
DGS is an excellent energy source for supplementing any type of forage fed to cows and calves. Cows in mid-lactation have been fed as much as 15 kg of WDGS daily. Precautions noted for feedlot cattle regarding P and S must be noted in the feeding of DGS for cow-calf.
Canadian Research on DGS
Extensive research on distillers’ grains has been ongoing in the U.S. for decades. Canadian research work to determine if American results differ under Western Canadian conditions, since most Canadian feedlots are in the Western provinces, and to study the types of grains that are more typically used in finishing diets in Canada.
Recent Canadian research has studied the effects of wheat, barley and oat DGS, regional differences, and effects on nutrient value of manure.
Feedback
Feedback and questions on the content of this page are welcome. Please e-mail us at info [at] beefresearch [dot] ca.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Dr. Jock Buchanan-Smith, retired University of Guelph professor and researcher of beef cattle nutrition and management for contributing his time and expertise in writing this page.
Fact Sheets
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Do DDGS affect feedlot cattle health?
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Do Distillers' Grains Increase E. coli Shedding?
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Do Distillers’ Grains Affect Beef Quality?
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Effects of feeding corn distillers’ grains on animal health , performance and carcass value
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Effects of feeding ethanol byproducts on manure nutrient levels
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Effects of feeding ethanol byproducts on rumen health
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Optimizing protein levels in feedlot diets containing DDGS
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Rate of Nitrogen and Phosphorous Release in Soil with Manure from Animals Fed Ethanol By-Products
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Strategies to use oats, barley, and corn DDGS more efficiently
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Making wheat DDGS work in cattle rations
by Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund
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