DDGS Sees Success in Chilean Dairy Trials
CHILE - A feeding trial using the ethanol co-product DDGS, has proven successful on Chilean Dairy cows.U.S. Grains Council consultant Dr. Randy Shaver, a dairy science professor
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, traveled to South America
this week to see firsthand results of the Council’s ongoing dairy feeding
trials in Chile.
In collaboration with the Chilean farm supply cooperative,
Cooprinsem, and six Chilean dairy farms, the Council has arranged several
feeding trials to include distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS),
a co-product of U.S. ethanol production, into selected Chilean dairy
farms.
The trial has shown “favorable results” according to Shaver. “The
July and August phase of the trial was during Chile’s winter feeding period
where cows rely more on stored forages.
We are measuring milk
yield and composition, and milk component yield responses to DDGS on
these farms,” said Shaver. Although Cooprinsem currently utilizes
DDGS in its feed rations regularly, its interest lies in the possibility of
increasing the inclusion ratio with respect to milk production. The trial
will test supplementing DDGS at 10 percent and 12 percent of total ration
dry matter or 5.5 pounds per cow per day.
In the 2007/08 corn marketing year, Chile imported approximately
70,500 metric tons of U.S. DDGS, up 39,500 tons from the previous year. “Although it is too early to
forecast DDGS use in Chile, it could amount to 10,000 tons per month in the near future,” said Jaime Cuellar,
USGC consultant in Colombia. Cuellar has been accompanying Shaver during his visits to Chile throughout the
trial period. “The cooperation by Cooprinsem and the Chilean dairy farms has been excellent,” said Shaver.
The
next phase of the trial will be in November and December, Chile’s late spring feeding period where cows rely
more on grazing pastures. In January 2009, Shaver will return to Chile to conduct field days and seminars where
he will present the feeding trial results.
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