Fuel Alternatives

123 Flash Menu Placeholder.

Gasoline Prices

Download Movies Players Here.

DON’T THROW AWAY YOUR MASH!!

Dried Distillers Grains (DDGs) may pay for your ethanol production.

If you are using corn as your base crop for producing your ethanol, then you have a very valuable by-product. Dried distillers grains have enormous potential as a super high quality feed, as a natural herbicide, and as a fertilizer. Studies have shown that DDGs will kill 50% of pre-emergent weeds and will stunt the growth of nearly 100%. As long as the weeds are stunted it will give crops a head start and the weeds won’t be able to catch up.

Next, As a fertilizer, DDGs are shown to give a 65% increase in tomato production, as shown in the following paragraph.

Distillers dried grains (DDGs), co products of converting corn into ethanol, are usually fed to livestock, but DDGs may soon be used to fight weeds and reduce herbicide. Plant physiologist Steve Vaughn and colleagues with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) are seeking to identify new, value-added uses for farm-based commodities like DDGs and help bring them to commercial fruition by developing novel processing technologies. Vaughn’s work over the past few years has shown that applying DDGs to soil as a surface mulch can not only suppress weeds, but also bolster the growth of tomatoes and some turf grasses. In one study, for example, Roma tomatoes in DDG-treated plots yielded 226 pounds, compared to 149 pounds from untreated control plots. Vaughn attributes some of the increase to nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients released by the DDG mulch as it decayed. In another study, using various analytical methods, NCAUR collaborator Mark Berhow is seeking to identify, measure, and monitor the activity of the chemicals in the DDG mulch that may have kept chickweed, annual rye, and other weeds from germinating. Rick Boydston, an ARS collaborator at Prosser, Wash., tested the mulch’s weed control in potted ornamentals, including roses. He observed that DDGs worked best when applied to the soil surface, because mixing them into the soil harmed both ornamentals and weeds alike. On another front at Peoria, ARS chemist Rogers Harry O’Kuru is examining DDGs for phytosterols, lecithin and other substances with potential use as health-promoting food ingredients.

As a food supplement, DDGs are extremely beneficial for beef and dairy cattle, swine, sheep, poultry, dogs and fish. For example, in dairy cattle, milk production is shown to increase around 16% while the milk fat content increases 8 to 18%. The higher milk fat content means the farmer gets a higher price for his milk. In beef cattle, studies have shown a 30% faster weight gain and 14% total weight gain all while feeding 30% less feed.

Chickens and turkeys are shown to grow 17-25% larger. For dogs, DDGs are shown to increase reproductive rates (good news for dog breeders). For fish farmers, DDGs are an excellent option because they can get the same growth rates in the fish as with commercial fish food but at less cost.