DDGS overtakes soybean feeds in US
Renewable Fuels Association Vice President Geoff Cooper says distillers grains and other ethanol co-products surpassed the U.S. soybean crushing industry in terms of feed production.
Speaking at the Export Exchange, Cooper said that the American ethanol industry produced nearly 35-million metric tonnes of nutrient-dense animal feed in the 2011-12 marketing year.
He said that means the ethanol industry surpassed the US soybean crushing industry in terms of feed production.
According to Cooper about a quarter of the feed co-products generated last year was exported to more than 50 countries.
Drought impact
Cooper said there is a belief that the ethanol industry is insulated from the effects of the drought and high corn prices because of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
But he said corn use for ethanol dropped by almost 15% as crop conditions deteriorated and corn prices increased, resulting a reduced corn consumption by about 600 to 700-million bushels on an annualised basis in less than two months.
According to the RFA Vice President, a waiver of the RFS would not have any meaningful impact on corn prices or availability.
If a waiver was granted and ethanol and biodiesel production were reduced he pointed out that prices of distillers grains, soybean meal would increase, and net feed costs might actually increase for some livestock and poultry feeders.
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