USDA To Report On Livestock Use Of Ethanol Byproducts June 29

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Department of Agriculture is planning to publish on June 29 its first-ever report on how the livestock industry is using the left over material produced when ethanol is made from corn.

The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, together with the Nebraska Corn Board, said it has already "surveyed 9,400 livestock operations in 12 states to determine whether they used ethanol co-products" and that the results will be available later this month.

The practice of feeding ethanol co-products - mainly distillers grains and corn gluten feed - has been a "success" for many cattle ranchers that are nearby ethanol plants, but other livestock have trouble digesting them, USDA Secretary Mike Johanns said Thursday.

Livestock producers continue to complain about the high cost of corn-based feed as corn-based ethanol production in the U.S. continues to rise, bidding away corn from feed makers. Ethanol producers don't use all of the corn kernel when producing fuel, and the byproducts are offering a cheap source of feed that can replace at least some of the corn in livestock feed.

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