The Rural Voice, 1983-12, Page 14Blended corn gluten
Some farmers are taking advantage
of a not too well-known co -product of corn.
One hundred tonnes of blended corn gluten is delivered from Collingwood
daily to farmers throughout the province. Involved in that operation, from
left: Bill DeMille, manager of Enerpro and Boh Johnson, Masterfeeds,
Owen Sound.
Bruce county feedlot operator Leonard Calhoun has been feeding blended
corn gluten for the last three years. He has a trailer load of 25 tonnes of
gluten trucked in each week at a cost of $58. per tonne.
PG. 12 THE RURAL VOICE, DECEMBER 1983
by Mary Lou Weiser
It's no secret to anyone that corn prices
are high this year. The increased price is
good news for some farmers and bad for
others depending on whether the farmer is
buying or selling. A farmer with corn to
sell will make some profit, but producers
who are buying and feeding corn and
grains are at the mercy of the markets and
will do well to break even.
Some farmers are skirting the problem
of high feed prices and are taking advan-
tage of a not too well-known co -product of
corn which, until a few years ago, was
considered a waste product but is now
proving itself as an economical, high
energy and protein source for beef and
dairy cows.
Corn steep liquor is a co -product of the
wet milling of corn in the production of
corn starch and/or corn sweeteners and
when combined with corn fibre produces
blended corn gluten.
Nacan Products Ltd. Starch Division of
Collingwood are the manufacturers of
blended corn gluten and Enerpro Ltd.,
also located in Collingwood have the
distribution rights, trucking it to many
points throughout the province.
Because the gluten is 60 per cent wet
matter, it is important that farmers have
the proper facilities to handle it. For this
reason, 90 per cent of Enerpro's
customers are beef feedlot operators who
have a place to dump the gluten when it is
delivered in tandem or trailer loads.
Feedlot operators generally use a front
end loader and a mixer wagon to blend the
corn gluten with hay and corn silage and
have a fence line feeder system.
Enerpro delivers about 100 tonne of
blended corn gluten daily to farmers
throughout the province. Masterfeeds of
Owen Sound owned the company until its
recent sale to a group of individuals, and
had been handling the gluten for the past
three years. Bob Johnson, manager of
Masterfeeds, Owen Sound still handles
Enerpro's accounts in the Grey -Bruce
area as he did before the change of owner-
ship, and Enerpro's manager, Bill DeMille
handles the rest of the province. Both men
are happy with the Interest shown in corn
gluten and the word of mouth reports by
satisfied cattle producers seems to be
their greatest sales pitch.
"Whatever we can get, we can sell,"
Johnson said. "It's not that hard of a pro-
duct to sell, especially with the price of
corn this year." Price figures heavily in an
operator's decision to feed gluten and