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Distillers’ grains disappear as

                                                                                                   The Midwest Cattleman · April 23, 2020 · P14

       ethanol plants slow, halt production



                                                                    By Laurie Bedord
         Making a living raising cat-                                                                         the day,” says John Robinson,
      tle isn’t as simple as just buy-                                                                        vice president of membership
      ing a herd and turning it out                                                                           and  communications for the
      on pasture. Cattle require a                                                                            National Cattlemen's Beef
      specific diet to maintain prop-                                                                         Association.    “Unfortunately,
      er nutrition and weight gain.                                                                           the impact on cattle produc-
         For the past 10 years, Jon                                                                           ers and feedlots that have for-
      Auten has used the co-prod-                                                                             mulated distillers’ grains into
      uct from ethanol production as                                                                          their feed rations is a side ef-
      a source of energy and protein                                                                          fect. They are faced with a dif-
      in his cattle ration. Using wet                                                                         ficult situation because they
      distillers’  grains in  his  cow-                                                                       are going to have to find a new
      calf operation offers myriad                                                                            source of feed and reformulate
      advantages.                                                                                             rations. That’s really tough on
         “Feeding a wet by-product                                                                            producers  and  feeders,  espe-
      provides protein, particularly                                                                          cially for those who are used
      bypass protein or rumen-un-                                                                             to sourcing locally.”
      degradable protein (RUP),                                                                                  Across the U.S., there are
      which is  helpful for younger,     (e.g., stalks/straw instead of     plants use more than 700 mil- 202  ethanol plants that have
      rapidly growing cattle,” says      expensive alfalfa hay).”           lion bushels of corn each year  17.1 billion gallons of total
      Galen Erickson, cattle indus-         Currently the No. 2 produc-     and produce more than 6 mil- capacity, according to RFA. In
      try professor of animal sci-       er of ethanol in the U.S., Ne-     lion tons of distillers’ grains.   a typical year, eight to 10 of
      ences, University of Nebras-       braska has grown from one            “We estimate feeding wet  those may go offline.
      ka-Lincoln. “It provides more      ethanol plant in 1985 to 25        or modified distillers’ makes        Since March 1, 2020, 69
      energy than corn. It helps         today. Combined, they have         producers between $30 and  plants, with an annual produc-
      with ration mixing (e.g., con-     the capacity to produce about      $50 more per finished ani- tion capacity of nearly 6 billion
      ditioning) and allows for low-     2.3 billion gallons of ethanol.    mal,” Erickson says.  “This is  gallons, have been fully idled.
      er-quality roughages to be fed     Spread across the state, these     due to better performance  Another 64 facilities have re-
                                                                            and cheaper cost of gain even  duced output anywhere from
                                                                            when priced the same as corn  10% to 50%, which takes an-
                 How Journagan Bulls Help                                   on a dry basis.”                  other 1.7 billion gallons out of
                                                                              But as ethanol plants shut  the supply.
                  You Achieve Your Goals...                                 down or reduce output in the         “I’ve been involved in the
                                                                            state because of economics  ethanol industry for about 15
          • Selection                                                       and storage,  Auten is forced  years, and I've never seen any-
               – Journagan Ranch is the Largest Producer of Hereford        to consider alternatives for his  thing close to this,” says Geoff
                Cattle in Missouri                                          Angus herd that he estimates  Cooper, CEO of RFA. “It's re-
               – Journagan bulls are selected on fescue and raised on fescue.  could push his feed costs up  ally a devastating time for the
               – Journagan bulls are selected for balanced traits including   25% or more.                    industry.”
                phenotype, genotype and EPD’s.                                “Once I’m not able to get          In a normal year –  when
               – Every Journagan Hereford bull has been calved un-assisted.  wet, or even modified wet,  every plant is running at nor-
               – All bulls will be ultra sounded and semen checked.         distillers’ grains, I’m going to  mal rates –  these facilities
                                                                            have to buy high-quality hay  make about 44 million tons
         • Heterosis                                                        to replace the protein needs  of distillers’ grains annual-
               – Add 20-40 lbs. at weaning.                                 of my cattle, which comes at a  ly. With nearly 66% of produc-
               – Complement your cowherd with a Hereford bull from          premium price,” says the Ayr,  tion either idled or reduced,
                  Journagan Ranch.                                          Nebraska, producer.               that adds up to a significant
                                                                              So far this year, seven  amount of feed lost.
         • Performance                                                      plants have  idled production
               – Steer feedlot                                              and three have slowed out-        Losing one-third of feed
                performance and                                             put  across Nebraska, accord-        In     Kimball,     Minneso-
                carcass data is available.                                                                    ta,  Schiefelbein  Farms  was
                                                                            ing to the Renewable Fuels        thrown for a loop when it was
         • Solid Reputation and Guarantee                                   Association (RFA).                notified that one-third of its
               – Journagan Ranch has been                                     “A 2015 University of Ne-       feed would no longer be avail-
                     in business for 38 years.                              braska study showed that the      able – effective immediately.
                                                                            ethanol industry in Nebraska         Bushmills Ethanol, where
                                                                            is a $5-billion-per-year indus-
                                        JOURNAGAN RANCH                     try, so the financial impact      the family sells its corn at
                                                                                                              around 75% of its value in re-
                                                      Rt. 1, Box 85G        on our state is huge as these     turn for  wet  cakes,  is  reduc-
                     Missouri State  Mountain Grove, MO 65711               plants idle and cut produc-       ing ethanol production and
                      University                                            tion,”  says Roger Berry, ad-
                                                Marty Lueck, Manager        ministrator, Nebraska Etha-       will only be producing dried
                                                       (417) 948-2669       nol Board.                        distillers’ grains for the time
                                                 (417) 838-1482 (Cell)        “We’re hearing that ethanol     being. A cooperative made up
             For the Profit Minded Cattleman!
                                                                            plants are shutting down by                     continued on page 25
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