Distillers grains, a byproduct of ethanol production , exports to China ‘exploded’ last year

[Fledermaus]

Contrary to what some people here believe, one quarter of our corn is not fed to cars. Only a portion of corn is used to make ethanol. What's left is high quality protein.

The distiller’s grain byproduct of ethanol production accounting for up to 25 percent of a typical ethanol plant’s revenues has always been the safety valve for the volatile biofuels industry, never more so than in 2009 when ethanol producers spent the first half of the year bathing in red ink.

But the dried grain kernels left over after the starch has been sucked out to make ethanol are now a staple in the diets of cattle and some pigs in the U.S. and, according to the U.S. Grains Council, saw a big rise in exports last year.

China in particular was a big buyer of DDGs from the U.S., increasing their tonnage from 8,000 in 2008 to more than 400,000 tons of DDGs in 2009 to feed China’s growing cattle population.

[JohnWxy]

1. Right. in 2007-2008 enough feed supplement was produced by the ethanol industry to feed all the

cattle on feed "in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado—the nation’s four largest feedlot states>"

http://www.ethanolrfa.org/objects/documents/1913/feed_co-products.pdf#page=2

"Grain ethanol co‐products, including distillers grains, corn
gluten feed and corn gluten meal, are expected to approach 30 million metric tons in 2008/09.

To put these production volumes in context, consider that the amount of feed produced by the ethanol
industry in 2007/08 is roughly equivalent to the combined annual amount of total feed consumed by
cattle on feed in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado—the nation’s four largest feedlot states.2"
(more)
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http://domesticfuel.com/2009/02/18/record-distillers-grains-exports/">Record Exports of Distillers Grains

"The largest markets for exports of distillers grains from the United States in 2008 were Mexico, Canada and Turkey." (my emphasis__JW)
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Since DDGS tends to sell at a discount to corn this means DDGS imports by Mexico helped lower the price of corn there (by adding to the supply of animal feed and competing with corn.)!



(would have recommended but saw your post too late.__JW)

[Fledermaus]

2. That's allot of chicken and then biogas.

and fertilizer not produced with fossil fuels.

But Its easer to get people to accept wood pellets as a source of biofuel than ethanol made from corn.

What ever,,, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSgL0Ie4zrI&feature=PlayList&p=68A9656BA1480CF6&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1

Sustainable Fertilizer: Urine And Wood Ash Produce Large Harvest

ScienceDaily (Sep. 17, 2009) — Results of the first study evaluating the use of human urine mixed with wood ash as a fertilizer for food crops has found that the combination can be substituted for costly synthetic fertilizers to produce bumper crops of tomatoes without introducing any risk of disease for consumers.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902112750.htm