Moisture Impact on Livestock Feeding Programs
By Gene Schmitz
Field Specialist in Livestock
University of Missouri Extension
Livestock producers are concerned about feed prices and look for low-cost alternatives. Distiller’s grains are an excellent supplement ingredient and come in three forms: dry, modified, and wet, which refers to the amount of water in the distiller’s grains.
Modified and wet are generally cheaper per ton, but producers must understand which product they are purchasing and how these different products impact rations and livestock performance.
I was recently running some grower rations based on book value hay quality and used distiller’s grains and corn to formulate my supplement. For illustrative purposes, I compared all three forms of distiller’s grains in my rations. My goal was to add 250 pounds of gain in 120 days, for an average daily gain (ADG) of 2.10 pounds per day.
The supplements consisted of 4 pounds of corn plus either 2.5 pounds of dry distiller’s grains, 4 pounds of modified distiller’s grains, or 6 pounds of wet distiller’s grains. Based on current plant prices and estimated freight costs, the supplement mix utilizing wet distiller’s grains was slightly cheaper than the supplement mix containing dry distiller’s grains. However, the price relationships between the distiller’s grains products change, so producers should regularly compare the prices of these products.
Modified and wet distiller’s grains have availability, transportation, storage, and shrink issues to consider that are not included in the above costs. Delivering feed to the feed bunk may also pose some challenges if producers aren’t used to feeding higher moisture products.
What happens if rations are not adjusted for differences in moisture between the three types of distiller’s grains? Assume the feeding rate of distiller’s grains stays the same based on 2.5 pounds of dry distiller’s grains per day on an as-fed basis.
Feeding 2.5 pounds of modified instead of dry distiller’s grains reduces ADG by 0.40 pounds and extends the feeding period by 27 days.
Feeding 2.5 pounds of wet instead of dry distiller’s grains reduces ADG by 0.70 pounds and extends the feeding period by 58 days.
If producers are looking to use modified or wet distiller’s grains, they must know the moisture of the product they are buying and how to make appropriate ration adjustments in order to keep performance and feed costs comparable to the dry product. The same is true for dry vs. wet corn gluten feed.
It can be tempting to purchase supplements based solely on price per ton or price per pound of protein or energy. Ultimately though, it is the final ration cost, expected animal performance and feed cost per pound of gain that must be considered when comparing different feedstuffs.
If you have additional questions on using of any of the wet by-product feeds, contact me at schmitze@missouri.edu or call the Pettis County Extension Center at 660-827-0591.
Note: Distillers grains are a cereal byproduct of the distillation process. Brewer's spent grain usually refers to barley produced as a byproduct of brewing, while distillers grains are a mix of wheat, maize, rice and other grains. There are two main sources of these grains. The traditional sources were from brewers -- Wikipedia
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