DAYTON, Ohio — A team of animal nutritionists representing large companies in Latin American countries such as Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Peru visited the Buckeye State to learn more about the ethanol co-product of dried distillers’ grains (DDGs).

The group of 11 individuals, including a Colombian representative from the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), were hosted by the USGC and the Ohio Corn Marketing Program (OCMP).

The group came to Ohio following the International Distillers Grains Conference in Illinois.

During its visit, the group toured one of Ohio’s new ethanol plants in Greenville, owned by the Andersons and Marathon Oil. Once the plant is fully operational, after an early 2008 opening date, it will produce 350,000 tons of DDGS annually.

Distillers’ grains are a high-protein content animal feed. Earlier this summer, Ohio was listed as one of the states feeding or considering feeding ethanol co-products to livestock, according to a report published by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) with the support and funding of the Nebraska Corn Board.

With the much-publicized expansion of the ethanol industry, there is an increasing availability of these co-products. The question is if and how livestock producers are putting them to use.

“Corn distillers’ dried grains or solubles (DDGS) are recovered in the distillery and contain all the nutrients from the incoming corn minus the starch,” said Mike Barnes, an independent dairy nutritionist in north-central Ohio, who is using DDGS.

“The DDGS has at least threefold the nutrients as the incoming grain. Since the silage is recycled, the ratio of these more valuable amino acid types continue to increase, so that they eventually represent approximately 16 percent of the final DDG’s amino acid content. No other feed ingredient results from such a great percentage of microbial products and their back stocking.”

Under construction in Cadiz, Ohio, is Harrison Ethanol, with a new 2,000-cow dairy facility and 10,000-head beef facility created as part of the new ethanol production facility.

It is unique in the fact that it will not have any manure storage structures or treatment facilities located within the feeding facilities boundaries and permitted by the ODA. All manure will be automatically collected and transported off-site to other operating divisions of Harrison Ethanol LLC approximately 60 times per day. Plans are for approximately half of the wet spent distillers’ grains to be fed to dairy and beef cattle on-site, with the balance being available for sale to other farmers. The operation is expected to be fully online by June 2008, with the dairy becoming operational this fall or winter.

“Ohio has seven ethanol plants under construction, with a total ethanol capacity of 500 million gallons, resulting in 1 million tons of DDGS,” said Dwayne Siekman, OCMP executive director.

Across the country, approximately 11 million tons of distillers grains are represented in the collective production capacities of ethanol plants either online or under construction. Approximately 2 million tons of DDGS are already being exported annually, but that number needs to double or triple in order for this growing industry to thrive.

Trade team participant Alexandra Amorocho, a nutritionist in Colombia, said she might consider some mix of DDGS in feeding cows. She is responsible for the nutrition of multiple herds. “We still need more information,” she said. “This tour has helped a lot.”

The trade mission stopped at farms operated by OCMP board members Brian Harbage, Bruce Long and Steve Vanzant and also toured Consolidated Grain and Barge in Cincinnati, Akey Feeds in Lewisburg and Cooper Farms in Fort Recovery.