By Dr. Hans H. Stein

July, 2011

We are now at a time of the year when most of the small grain crops have been harvested, but we are still a few month away from having new-crop corn available. In many areas of the Midwest, it is, therefore, possible to purchase wheat, barley, or oats at a price that is less than that of corn. In many cases, this is an opportunity to reduce diet costs. With corn trading close to 7 dollars per bushel, there may be opportunities for reducing diet costs if small grains are available.

By Dr. Hans H. Stein

April, 2011

There are a number of high fiber ingredients available to swine producers. High-fiber ingredients are often available at relatively low costs because these ingredients cannot be used in the biofuel industry. High-fiber ingredients are, therefore, often attractive in feed formulation to reduce diet costs.

By Dr. Hans H. Stein

January, 2011

Although the cost of DDGS has increased during the last 6 months, there are still significant savings associated with the use of DDGS in swine diets. DDGS will replace corn, soybean meal, and inorganic phosphorus sources in diets fed to pigs. Because the costs of these ingredients have increased more than the cost of DDGS, it is a good idea to include DDGS in the diets to help reduce feed costs. With current prices for corn, soybean meal, and DDGS, costs of swine diets are reduced by 7 to 9 dollars per ton for each 10% DDGS that are included in the diets (Figure 1). In most cases, 30% DDGS can be included in diets fed to all categories of pigs if an average or above average quality of DDGS is used and if diets are properly balanced for all nutrients. If 30% DDGS is included in diets fed to sows, weanling pigs, and growing-finishing pigs, the total cost savings by using DDGS is approximately 10 dollars per market pig produced.

By Dr. Hans H. Stein

July, 2010

Increased global demand for fish meal has resulted in rapidly increased costs of fish meal during the last 6 month. The recent shutdown of many fish processing facilities in the Gulf area has exacerbated the situation and many producers are no longer able to secure fish meal for their pigs. It is, therefore necessary to look for alternatives to fish meal in diets fed to swine.

By Dr. Hans H. Stein

March 2010

Many companies that are producing DDGS have started to centrifuge or skim off the fat from the DDGS. These companies then sell the fat for biodiesel production at a price that is much greater than what they can usually obtain for DDGS. The consequence of this practice is that the concentration of fat in DDGS is reduced from 10 to 11% in conventional DDGS to between 6 and 8 % in the centrifuged low-fat DDGS. This DDGS has a reduced concentration of energy and has, therefore, also a reduced value when fed to livestock. Conventional DDGS with 10 to 11% fat has a concentration of digestible energy that is similar to that in corn. However, if the concentration of fat in DDGS is reduced by 3 to 5% then the energy value of that product is reduced considerably.