Ag Waste...a Commodity

Ag Waste...a Commodity

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Ag waste can be turned into a commodity. I recently had an interesting chat with Joanna Schroeder, an expert in crop residue, also known as biomass. We all know that biomass is used in the production of ethanol but I was intrigued to find out that there are other uses as well. It can be turned into burnable pallets and used to power various utility companies. But surprisingly, at least to me, was the fact that ag residue is a very useful form of livestock feed. "When you say feed, you take corn residue or wheat residue and use it to feed livestock. Correct? Yes and a lot of the feed market is actually going to Europe. We do have a pretty strong feed market here but that feed is less expensive than something like a dry distiller grain. A lot of farmers, and in particular dairy farmers prefer the feed residue coming from a biomass such as corn, wheat, alfalfa for their herds than they do like something like a dry distiller grain. The fact that they prefer it suggests that it is nutritious, correct? It is very nutritional. If you look at the commodity markets, and corn is a pretty volatile commodity as is soybeans, right now you are not seeing biomass considered as a commodity so it's not trading on that market. A lot of times the biomass feed is a lot less expensive and just as nutritious as something like a dry distiller grain or fee based on soy."
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