Latimer, Iowa (north central) | Yup the lack of competition for grains is a killer, no matter the grain. Being commodity producers is what allows it though. Encourages the ABCD’s.
Producing commodities is fine, but we can grow actual food too. We haul our corn and past the local coop and several e plants that would be closer, to a town with 2 plants about 60 miles away. Basis typically .20-.70 cents better there with several plants competing.
Ideally the best parts of the kernals are used for a high value product while the less parts are used for animal feed. Ethonal production is a good example of this.
Milling oats and using the groats for human food and the hulls for animal feed would be another example. Maximizing that by-product income stream is very important for a startup. Many of the big mills don’t even try as their profits are high enough without messing with millscreen maximization. I would like develop a way to reintroduce oat hulls to hog rations. In the past, like 20 years ago, when we farrowed and finished our own pigs and had control over rations, incorporating oats helped buffer the pigs’ guts. Hulls can be ground, thus reducing bulk density, making them easier to transport and handle. They can the either be added to feed then or pelletized. Per ton, compared to the caloric content in corn, the fiber in oat hulls is good feed. Would be cost competitive and increase sale price of hulls by 3 times. My hypothesis is the pigs would do better as well, with improved gut health. The big companies that pay for university research want to keep selling corn inputs though so it’s an uphill battle.
Doing things to maximize what is gleaned from grain will make farmers more profitable. The big guys don’t care about making farmers more money just themselves and what is easy. Existing infrastructure is not very nimble either.
Edited by Green Acres Guy 12/2/2024 20:12
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Ardent Mills Mankato
