Over the past few days I attended the 4^th Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) Conference in Reno, Nevada.  The conference was put on by the GLCI and Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), part of the USDA.  I gave a presentation entitled “Holistic Management of Native Meadows in Eastern California and Western Nevada”.  The rest of the time I watched presentations from other ranchers and researchers.  Most of these presentations incorporated using new grazing methods to improve the quality of grazing lands, improving the profitability of your operation and examples of successful operations.  I learned a lot and met many interesting people from across the country. 

Stocker calves coming up for thier DDG on a -19 F morning last week

 On the last day I sat in on some presentations dealing with stocker cattle.  A common theme I noticed is the use of Dried Distiller’s Grains (DDG) or Wet Distiller’s Grains (WDG) as supplemental feed for cattle on winter pasture.  Both DDG and WDG are by products of corn based ethanol.  The wet product has to be shipped and fed fairly close to the production facility as it has a short useful life.  The dried product can be shipped anywhere in the country.  The advantage of these byproducts is the high energy and mid level protein they provide. 

Our ranch first learned about DDG during the annual “Cattleman’s Update” put on by the University of Nevada in January 2008.  A professor from Oregon presented his research on using DDG as winter supplementation.  That fall when alfalfa hay in our area reached record high prices, we built a bunker and ordered a truckload of DDG from a place in California that has rail cars of the stuff sent from the mid-west.  We purchased and modified an alfalfa cube feeder and mounted it on our stock truck.  Our cattle rely mainly on a winter diet of stockpiled forage, but need a little supplementation during the spring calving season.  Last year our ranch saved $20,000 feeding DDG over hay to all our cattle and stockers.  Currently DDG is selling for $190/ton delivered in our area and a rancher from western Nebraska told me he gets it for $130/ton.  

DDG has the color and consistency of corn meal

The only problem we have had with the stuff is the difficulty in feeding in pastures during the oh-so-frequent strong spring winds in our area.  Because of its powdery consistency it’s subject to wind loss if we’re not careful when feeding.  We have purchased some used industrial belting and move it around the paddocks and use it to feed on.  The cattle love the stuff; we feed 1lb/day to stockers and 4.5-5lbs/day to lactating cows.