Hometop nav spacerAbout ARStop nav spacerHelptop nav spacerContact Ustop nav spacerEn Espanoltop nav spacer
Printable VersionPrintable Version     E-mail this pageE-mail this page
United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service
Search
 
 
Search News & Events
News
News archive
News by e-mail
Nutrition news
Magazine 
Image Gallery
Noticias en español
Press Room
Video
Briefing Room
Events
   

Photo: Tomatoes. Link to photo information
ARS is working on new uses for dried distiller's grains (DDGs)–coproducts of corn ethanol production–such as being used as an organic fertilizer on crops like tomatoes. Click the image for more information about it.


For further reading

ARS and Seed Company Examine Commercial Potential of Ethanol Coproduct

By Jan Suszkiw
July 10, 2008

Studies by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have shown that dried distiller's grains (DDGs)—coproducts of corn ethanol production—have potential as an organic fertilizer and for weed control. But some ethanol producers are adopting new corn-grinding methods that may affect the DDGs' usefulness.

To further study DDGs, ARS plant physiologist Steve Vaughn and colleagues entered into a one-year cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with Summit Seed, Inc., a Manteno, Ill.-based company specializing in turfgrass production.

America's ethanol industry generates an estimated 10 million to 14 million metric tons of DDGs annually from both wet and dry milling of corn, processes that yield fermentable sugars for conversion into fuel alcohol. About 75 percent of the DDGs are fed to livestock. But since 2005, Vaughn has led a team at the ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) in Peoria, Ill., to develop new, value-added uses for DDGs.

In greenhouse and field studies, Vaughn showed that the DDGs can be used as an organic fertilizer for tomatoes and other crops. Indeed, in 2007, DDG-treated plots of Roma tomatoes yielded 226 total pounds of fruit, versus 149 pounds from untreated plants. And in turfgrass trials, the DDGs stopped annual bluegrass and other weed seeds from germinating in stands of Kentucky bluegrass.

But now, with more ethanol plants using dry-grinding methods, the DDGs, germ and fiber fractions are generated before—rather than after—corn sugars are fermented into ethanol. Determining how this new practice changes the DDGs' biochemical and physical properties is a chief focus of ARS' CRADA with Summit Seed.

Vaughn's ARS colleagues are Jill Winkler, Kathy Rennick, Fred Eller, Mark Berhow and Brent Tisserat—all with NCAUR in Peoria—and Rick Boydston and Hal Collins, both with ARS in Prosser, Wash.

ARS is a scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

[Top]
     
Last Modified: 07/10/2008
ARS Home | USDA.gov | Site Map | Policies and Links 
FOIA | Accessibility Statement | Privacy Policy | Nondiscrimination Statement | Information Quality | USA.gov | White House