“Storage of Wet Distiller’s Grains for the Beef Operation”
by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist
If you have interest in using some wet distillers grains (WDG) now may be the time. The spot price will typically reflect corn prices but there is also an additional “supply-demand” dynamic at play. To avoid cost of drying distillers grains, ethanol producers would prefer to market the product as WDG, provided the price is right. For operations that are a reasonable distance from an ethanol plant, WDG may be an excellent choice of feedstuffs. WDG not only have very good energy and protein values, the moist nature of WDG make it an excellent ration conditioner in diets containing only dry ingredients.
In the summer, and especially this summer, many feedlots feed reduced numbers of cattle, which reduces the demand for WDG. This may actually cause the price of WDG to fall below its normal range of 90-110% the price of corn on an equal dry matter basis—in other words, a bargain. Assuming that freight and the cost of hauling the moisture portion of the WDG doesn’t consume the price advantage; this is a buying opportunity for beef producers.
Unfortunately, WDG have a very limited shelf-life of 5-7 days if stored out in the open due to mold development, and some producers may not feed sufficient numbers of cattle to feed through a full 20 ton load of product in less than a week. One way to capture a greater amount of this potential discount is to buy several loads and store the product in an anaerobic environment. This can be as simple as dumping the product on a concrete slab and covering with plastic and tires, as we normally would a bunker silo. Another method is to have the wet product bagged by a commercial bagger on site. A third option is to blend the wet product with 25-30% of dry forage such as hay, straw, or corn stalks. The benefit of this option is that this blend can be packed in a bunker silo with a tractor similar to corn silage. This third option presents one challenge in that the final product should be tested for nutrient content for proper ration balancing.Make sure to push a sharp pencil when evaluating the cost-value opportunities of WDG. But there may certainly be an opportunity to include WDG as part of your fall and winter feeding program.
