Grainnet

Washington, DC--The House Agriculture Committee Thursday agreed that more research needs to be done to maximize the use of corn-based ethanol byproducts to feed livestock, something U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say they tentatively support because of growing use by ranchers.

The leftover material after the corn is processed into fuel has become increasingly important to cattle ranchers, but work needs to be done to make it more "palatable" to other livestock sectors, National Farmers Union President Tom Bius told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

"You get about two-thirds of the value of that corn back," Bius said.

"You get dual use out of that corn."

A study released by the USDA and the Nebraska Corn Board in late June showed about half of the cattle and hog operations in 12 states surveyed fed ethanol byproducts or at least "considered feeding them" to livestock last year.

The USDA's National Agriculture Statistics Service surveyed 9,400 livestock operations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Dairy operations, according to the survey, were the biggest users of the byproducts, while hog producers used the least.

Thirty-eight percent of the dairy operations surveyed said they fed their animals the byproducts, while only 12% of hog producers used the material for feed.

The study of ethanol byproducts, which are mainly distillers grains and corn gluten feed, sought by the House panel is an amendment to the 2007 farm bill and debate on that bill is ongoing.

For more information, call Bill Tomson at 202-646-0088.

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