It’s all over the health news: Cut down on fat. But that’s for people. In farm animals’
diets, fat is good.
Farmers add fat to feed rations to help broiler chickens, hogs and dairy cows grow
faster, stay healthy and, for cows, produce more milk.
Fat provides more than twice the calories of the same weight of carbohydrates and
protein. But adding fat to feed increases the cost. That’s something farmers try to
avoid.
University of Georgia experts, though, say there’s a lower-cost way now to increase the
fat content of the feed.
"We’re working with ‘high-oil’ corn," said Anton Coy, an agronomy researcher with
the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. "The
corn we’re experimenting with has two to three times the oil of regular hybrid corn
varieties."
Most corn hybrids contain about 3 percent oil in a fairly small part of a large, squarish
kernel. The rest of the kernel is proteins and starch. Some corn varieties, though,
contain more than 12 percent oil in a smaller, rounded kernel.
Coy is working to cross two such hybrids. The result is corn that contains about 5
percent oil in a large kernel. Such crosses have been studied in the Midwest, but Coy’s
main concern is finding hybrids that perform well in Georgia and across the Southeast.
"The crop has to have high oil content and a good yield," Coy said. "At this point,
there’s no question that the production system works well. We’re fine-tuning it now for
Georgia farmers."
This system seems to work best if irrigation systems can provide water when it’s
needed most. Georgia farmers irrigate about half of their corn crop.
The booming poultry industry and pork and dairy farmers all have an interest in this
crop.
Rick Jones, a CAES animal scientist, said high-oil corn could prove an advantage for
farmers, especially those who grow their own feed.
So far, the poultry industry is interested, Jones said, but they need millions of bushels
every week to justify using it in their feed rations. They can’t afford to use it for a
week or two, then go back to regular corn with fat added.
Pork producers and dairy farmers can grow enough of this crop to feed their animals
for several months.
"There is definitely more potential in the short run for smaller producers," Jones said.
This corn does cost more to plant. But the high-oil corn fetches a premium at the
market. Experts figure the extra oil content can raise the value of corn by about 30
cents per bushel.
Jones said if farmers have to add fat to other ration ingredients, high-oil corn can be a
bargain. The savings depend on both the market price for corn and feed-grade fat.
"The cost of both varies throughout the year," he said. "But if farmers grow and store
their own feed, the savings could be even greater."
You may not see the difference in price in your grocery bill, though. The advantage for
shoppers is simply that the lower cost to feed animals can help keep meat supplies
stable. When supplies stabilize, so do prices.
