Corn gluten feed price

Corn gluten feed is a protein feed, fed to raise a ration's crude-protein content. On a dry-matter basis it runs about 23.8% crude protein and 78% TDN, roughly 0.84 Mcal of net energy for lactation per pound of dry matter, at about 90% dry matter as fed. Those figures come from University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension, Composition of Selected Livestock Feeds (FSA3043), from NRC Beef Cattle 1996 + Dairy One. TDN ranges 73-82% DM by source/plant. The leaderboard uses them to convert this week's board price into a cost per pound of protein and per pound of energy, so it can be ranked against corn and soybean meal. Prices are quoted per ton, and the cheapest board price is not the cheapest fed price once freight and moisture are counted (see the FOB-vs-delivered guide). Corn gluten feed is the bran and steep-liquor fraction left when a wet-milling plant pulls starch and sweeteners out of corn, a different process from the dry-grind ethanol plants that make DDGS. Wet mills are fewer and larger than ethanol plants and cluster around a handful of Midwest milling hubs, so supply tracks corn sweetener demand rather than the ethanol market. It carries its energy as digestible fiber rather than starch, letting feedlots run more of it without the acidosis risk of extra corn, though its phosphorus and sulfur still need watching at high inclusion. Cattle feeders and dairies are the main buyers, usually pricing it against corn and DDGS.