The Rural Voice, 1983-12, Page 15MOW
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Bill Davis, a Dobbinton farmer (stan-
ding beside a pile of blended corn
gluten) says that blended corn gluten
"is the best feed buy going today."
with a cost of 17 cents per kilo of energy
for the wet product compared to 22-23
cents per kilo of energy for high moisture
corn, Johnson asked "why put up high
moisture corn." "The days of feeding high
moisture or dry corn are pretty well over,"
he feels. Nacan is the only wet milling
starch plant in the province. All other
starch plants dry completely. "If there is a
market for this product in the moist stage,
why not go this way rather than drying,"
he added.
Blended corn gluten has a protein con-
tent of about 10 per cent on an as -fed
basis and, in comparing the energy values
of grains to gluten, one pound of barley is
equivalent to two pounds of gluten and
one pound of corn compares to 21/4
pounds of gluten. "Basically, what we're
selling is an energy and protein feed,"
DeMille said. Hence the name Enerpro.
Farmers buying gluten only have one pro-
duct to 4eed, whereas, the farmer buying
dried corn and concentrates is faced with
phenomenal costs, with thousands of
dollars being tied up in feed.
Nacan Products Ltd.'s main product is
starch with over 400 patents of different
starch products ranging from textile in-
dustry starches to a frozen food starch
that retains a clear consistency even
when it is frozen. Substantial amounts of
corn are required to keep the plant in
operation and satisfy its hunger for 10,000
bushels of corn per day. A large percen-
tage of corn is bought on the open market
but Nacan also contracts Southern On-
tario farmers to grow 6,000 acres of its
own waxy variety which has a difference
in chemical change and is suited to cer-
tain starch products.
As the corn enters the wet milling pro-
cess, it is soaked and softened in eight
Bill Davis uses a mixer -wagon to feed
his 1500 head of cattle: he feeds 20
per cent corn gluten - about 8 to 10
pounds per beast per day. Photos by
Mary Lou Weiser.
steep tanks for forty hours at a
temperature of 125°F. Water from steep
tank one is drained into steep tank two
and so on, working its way through all
eight tanks, and picking up solids as it
goes. By the end of the process, the
water consists of 5 per cent solids and is
evaporated down to the consistency and
colour of molasses. It is appropriately
named corn steep liquor.
Up until several years ago, the steep
water was considered useless by the
plant. Ed Norris, production supervisor of
Nacan Products Ltd., said that a sewage
problem has been alleviated for the plant
by evaporating the steep water down and
selling it as a protein source for cattle
feed. The corn steep liquor contains 21.6
per cent protein on an as -fed basis and
while some farmers do buy straight C.S.L.
the majority of Enerpro's customers feed
a combination of corn fibre and C.S.L. in a
3:1 ratio. The C.S.L. can also be for
sealing bunker silos since the high
percentage of solids in the solution forms
a seal on the silo.
While Nacan is primarily a starch pro-
ducing plant, it is actually four plants in
one, with different processes to separate
the germ, fibre, gluten and starch in a
kernel of corn. The steeping process
makes the corn kernel soft, and as it goes
through hydro -cyclones, the germ
separates off first because it is full of oil
and lighter. The germ contains 50 per cent
oil and, after being dried, it is shipped and
the oil is squeezed out to be used for the
production of Mazola corn oil.
Once the delicate germ is removed. the
remaining starch, gluten and fibre of the
ONE
TOUGH
MACHINE...
Designed and built to last, this
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jobs thanks to its chainless drive
transaxle and powerful heavy-duty
Kawasaki 341cc industrial engine.
Thanks to its power and ability to
turn in a smaller radius, the
electric -starting Sasquatch 340
easily masters muddy paths, snowy
trails and rocky slopes.
The Sasquatch 340 ATV .... one
tough machine.
JIM HARKNESS
EQUIPMENT LTD.,
Hwy. #9 N., Harriston
519-338-2923
THE RURAL VOICE,
DECEMBER 1983
PG.
13