1. Why beef cattle are essential
in the current food and fuel
discussion
G. Erickson, T. Klopfenstein

2. 2

3. MacDonald, 2011 DGTC

4. US perspective

5. Nebraska perspective
• Plants spread out • Wet & Modified predominate
• In historical corn areas • Expansion has been west
• Near feedlot cattle

6. DRY MILLING-WDG(+S)
CORN
GRIND, WET, COOK
Abengoa Bioenergy, York, NE
FERMENTATION
YEAST, ENZYMES
STILL ALCOHOL & CO2
STILLAGE
DISTILLERS GRAINS DISTILLERS SOLUBLES
WDG, DDG WDGS
DDGS

7. Ruminants (i.e., cattle) Rumen Esophagus
ultimate recyclers 82%
Reticulum
2%
Omasum
10%
Abomasum
Small Intestine 6%

8. Focus
• Perception is:
• “we have too much”
• grain ethanol is “old news” & mature industry
• Adapt to higher grain prices
• Use more
• limitations: fat, sulfur, N losses, optimal performance
• Effect of drying
• performance
• GHG emissions (relative to gasoline) for whole system
• Impact of using distillers
• environmental issues (nutrient management)
• meat quality issues (shelf-life and sensory traits)
• food safety
• other dietary ingredients to optimize performance

9. Usage Potential
• 70.6 million tons (all livestock)
• 25 million tons (feedlot cattle)
• Produced from 21 billion gallon ethanol
• 7.8 billion bushels corn
• 50%+ of corn crop

10. Effect of drying
Meta-analysis
• WDGS
• 20 experiments, 3,365 steers, 350 pens
• DDGS
• 4 experiments, 581 steers, 66 pens
• MDGS
• 4 experiments, 680 steers, 85 pens
Bremer et al., 2011 Prof. Anim. Scient.

11. 0.170
DDGS (90% DM)
MDGS (46% DM)
Feed Efficiency
WDGS (32% DM)
0.160
0.150
0.140
0 10 20 30 40
Value
Diet DM % DGS (% of corn)
Diet DM % DGS
10 20 30 40
WDGS 148 145 137 131
MDGS 128 124 121 117
DDGS 107 110 111 112
Bremer et al., 2011 Prof. Anim. Scient.

12. Effect of drying
WDGS MDGS DDGS SEM P-value
Performance1
DMI, lb/d 24.8a 26.4b 27.1b 0.07 < 0.01
ADG, lb 4.11 4.17 4.05 0.3 0.30
F:G 6.06 6.33 6.67 0.002 <0.01
Carcass Characteristics2
HCW, lb 882 887 877 6 0.52
Marbling Score 610 599 602 9 0.69
12th rib fat, in 0.63 0.64 0.60 0.1 0.15
LM area, in2 13.3 13.2 13.4 0.15 0.50
a,b,c Means
with different superscripts differ (P - value < 0.05).
1 DMI - Dry matter intake; ADG - Average daily gain; G:F - gain per lb of feed.
2 HCW - Hot carcass wt.; Marbling Score: 400 - slight, 500 - small, 600 - Modest, 700 - Moderate, 800 - Slightly Abundant.
Nuttelman et al., 2011 NE beef report

13. Effect of drying
WDGS MDGS DDGS CORN
Performance1
DMI, lb/d 24.8a 26.4b 27.1b 24.6
ADG, lb 4.11 4.17 4.05 3.58
F:G 6.06 6.33 6.67 6.85
30% inclusion: (138) (125) (109)
Carcass Characteristics2
HCW, lb 882 887 877 831
a,b,c Means
with different superscripts differ (P - value < 0.05).
1 DMI - Dry matter intake; ADG - Average daily gain; G:F - gain per lb of feed.
2 HCW - Hot carcass wt.; Marbling Score: 400 - slight, 500 - small, 600 - Modest, 700 - Moderate, 800 - Slightly Abundant.
Nuttelman et al., 2011 NE beef report

14. Displacement Ratios
Livestock Class Beef Beef Beef
Beef Swine Dairy
DGS Type Dry Dry Wet
Wet Dry Wet/Dry
DGS % of Diet DM 20 45 20
45 9-27 10-30
Corn, lb DM 1.21 1.00 1.38
1.25 0.57 0.45
Urea, lb 0.06 0.03 0.07
0.03
Soybean Meal, lb DM 0.43 0.55
Total, lb/lb DGS DM 1.27 1.03 1.45 1.28 1.00 1.00
Greatest replacement is feeding WDGS to beef
Using DGS in the U.S. and International Livestock and Poultry Industries
Beef – Klopfenstein et al., 2008 Swine – Stein, 2008 Dairy – Schingoethe, 2008

15. The BESS Life-Cycle
CH4 CO2 N2O
CO2
Corn
Production Grain Ethanol
Ethanol
Plant
Grain
N2O CH4 DGS
Livestock
Free Download: www.bess.unl.edu

16. GHG Reduction from Gasoline, %
DDGS
43
45
47
49
51
53 Gasoline = 97.7
gCO2e/ MJ
WDGS 55
Dairy & Swine Beef
Midwest Avg. Corn Production

17. Wet Byproducts for Cattle
• Cost ($20-40/ton)
• Feeding Value (110% vs >130%)
• GHG savings (45 vs 55% reduction)
• Nebraska Advantage

19. Beef Extension Page
http://beef.unl.edu

20. CONTACT: Galen Erickson PH: 402 472-6402
geericks@unlnotes.unl.edu http://beef.unl.edu
Acknowledge:
Nebraska Corn Board Poet
Cargill Wet Milling Chief Ethanol
ADM Green Plains
Abengoa Nebraska Center Energy