The U.S. Grains Council, in cooperation with the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service in Australia, Hawkeye Gold (U.S. ethanol producer) and CopRice Feeds (Australian feed producer), conducted the first-ever distillers dried grains with solubles milling and feeding trials in Australia.
The Council obtained a DDGS sample donation from Hawkeye Gold, the Council’s member, which included two 40-foot containers totalling 45,777 metric tons of the product. The sample was subject to stringent testing and inspection procedures, which were performed successfully and clearance of the product was granted by Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).
The objective of the trials was to introduce U.S. DDGS as a viable feed ingredient for the Australian feed industry and dairy sector. The milling trials took place at CopRice’s feed mills in Leeton, New South Wales (NSW) and Tongala, Victoria. The milling trials measured the effects of DDGS use on feed milling parameters such as tons per hour, steam and feed rate. DDGS inclusion on pelletizing characteristics were also measured, including pellet quality parameters such as pellet durability index (PDI), colors, odor and bulk density. The DDGS feeding trials were conducted with contract dairy farmers in NSW and Victoria using the pelletized feed with 5, 10, 15 and 20 percent DDGS inclusion levels. Both trials measured the effects of DDGS use on animal performance such as palatability and milk production.
The dairy farmers in northern Victoria and NSW trials all feed separately in the dairy bails, twice daily (5 kg morning, 5kg evening milkings). DDGS were around 2 - 8 percent of the overall diet. The trials suggest that DDGS can be included in dairy rations in the NSW and Victoria regions of Australia. It may be possible to include DDGS up to 20 percent without any adverse effect on production of dairy cows or pelletizing process.
DDGS inclusions did not seem to have a major impact on pelletizing process at the mill given the conditions of the trial. It is therefore possible that DDGS can be included in CopRice’s pelletized rations but its cost-effectiveness will depend on the cost of shipping from the U.S. It will be more effective to use DDGS in the high-protein, high-energy rations than in low-protein rations. PD
Adel Yusupov
USGC regional director
Southeast Asia
ayusupov@usgc.com.my
