Ingenious with Intention

         We’ve probably all heard the famous Isaac Newton’s, “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,” but I’m a firm believer that this law applies to much more than just motion and physics and can be philosophically applied to life altogether. Nearly every manufacturing process results in waste products, and more than just the typical carbon dioxide emissions that everyone seems to talk about. The ethanol fuel industry produces distillers grains, and corn oil as waste products alongside their CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, the sugar-beet industry produces a beet pulp, as well as a beet molasses as byproducts of its industry. These are all examples of “equal and opposite reactions,” because in order to get the fuel from the ethanol industry and the sugar extracted from the sugar-beets there will never been a 100% retention rate and thus waste is produced in the process. One of the most amazing things, in my opinion, about the production of livestock is the distinctive ability to utilize waste products from other industries. All four of the waste products listed are used in animal diets, and without the livestock feeding industry utilizing these products what would we do with them, how would we dispose of them?

       The use of byproducts in livestock diets has steadily increased over the last ten years especially and has allowed for increased energy efficiencies, more cost effective food sources, and sustainable practices. Distillers grains byproducts off the ethanol industry can be utilized both dried as well as wet throughout the livestock sectors. The inclusion of these waste products is quite beneficial to the diet of the animal because it provides energy and protein. The nutrients within distillers grains are pretty readily available to the animal due to the prior processing the product has previously undergone which means they’re easily digestible and thus usable to the animal for growth and production. According to an ERS report, for every bushel of corn that is processed by an ethanol plant there's 2.8 gallons of fuel and nearly 17.5 pounds of animal feed. That is an incredible statistic to think about when you consider what we actually are attempting to produce is the fuel, and for every 56 pounds (the weight of a bushel), we only receive 2.8 gallons (approximately 23.35 pounds) of the product we are striving for and then 17.5 pounds of waste is produced, in which will ultimately need to be utilized by another industry or disposed of. That is a large amount of waste product which would possibly go unused without the livestock production industry’s intervention. When it comes to the sugar-beet industry, the molasses byproduct is a widely utilized waste. The byproduct sugar-beet molasses provides a high energy product and aids in dust control and overall palatability as well. Nearly 4-5% of the weight of every beet is produced as beet molasses waste, making a large amount of this byproduct when processed in surplus.

            One thing the world cannot claim the livestock feeding industry lacks is the flair to be resourceful. Producers have configured a way in which to use waste from other industries efficiently within their own production, which is truly remarkable. The ability to include and understand the benefits of these products adds to the sustainability of livestock production. There will always be fuel production and I don’t see the production of sugar tanking in the near future, so the waste from this industries allows for increased efficiencies across the various industries and for a relationship in which all involved benefit.

 

 

Sources:

http://southeastfarmpress.com/livestock/feed-value-ethanol-products-long-underestimated

http://www.smbsc.com/OurSugar/CoProducts.aspx