Platte Valley Distillers Turns Ethanol By-products into Dry Cattle Feed

The Platte Valley Distillers, a company from Nebraska, has found a way to make dry cattle feed pellets from an ethanol by-product. The company has patented the technique that will allow it to make feed pellets that can be exported.

Ethanol plants commonly sell distillers grain, a production by-product, as feed. However, their market is limited to the area since wet distillers' grain is expensive to ship while the dry feed tends to spoil. Tom Kruml, one of the co-owners of Platte Valley Distillers, said that the company can make distillers grain denser, so it can be turned into a pellet.

Specialized equipment will be used to press distillers' grain into a cube and apply heat to form a protective outer layer, with corn oil in the feed helping to seal the cube. The company will also sell the equipment to others that want to make the feed pellets.