A report released Friday by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service found that ethanol co-products such as distillers grains are being used as feed by an increasing number of livestock producers.
Of 9,400 livestock operations in the Midwest contacted by NASS, 1,276 indicated they had used ethanol co-products during 2006.

Many survey respondents were still undecided about whether to use distillers grains on their operations, which about a third of cattle and hog and a fifth of dairy cattle producers saying they were thinking about feeding ethanol coproducts have not begun using them yet.

Producers ranked quality and price as the most important characteristics of co-products, along with consistent protein levels and product availability.

For the full study, visit usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1756