Fueling the Sorghum Ethanol Coproducts Engine

by Kelli Fulkerson (Ethanol Producer Magazine/National Sorghum Producers) Producers work to expand markets for sorghum distillers and oil.

While exports are undeniably the hottest market for grain sorghum right now with China set to buy over 70 percent of the 2014-’15 U.S. crop, sorghum's advantages as an ethanol feedstock remain evident and vital to end-users. Grain sorghum ethanol producers have recognized the benefits inherent to sorghum and are working to exploit the feedstock’s numerous advantages, including coproducts.

An innovator in this is Kansas Ethanol LLC, located in Lyons, Kansas. In addition to about 60 million gallons of ethanol annually, Kansas Ethanol produces wet and dried distillers grains, oil, and protein and forage supplements. Taking advantage of value-added coproducts does add cost, but extracting value from every component of grain pays big dividends, says CEO Mike Chisam. “We see the economic importance of utilizing the added value that every kernel of grain provides.” Kansas Ethanol typically grinds a blend of one-third corn and two-thirds grain sorghum.

Chisam and his team began working with ICM Inc. to implement the company’s Advanced Oil Separation system, which utilizes a proprietary process to maximize the recovery of nonfood grade oil from centrifugally separated syrup.

“We could earn more on every gallon, but we choose to hold back during extraction to ensure our feed tag will read 4 to 5 percent fat for the livestock feeders we work with,” he adds.

Grain sorghum oil is primarily used as a feedstuff in the swine, poultry, beef cattle and dairy cattle industries. The swine and dairy industries in particular have found extra value in grain sorghum ethanol coproducts, as protein content and even the contents of lesser-known micronutrients like iodine can become important. Research also suggests that sorghum can help keep the glycemic index of dairy cows in check and can boost meat quality scores in swine.

Sorghum has been a regionally important feedstock to the ethanol industry since the late 1970s with approximately one-third of the U.S. crop typically used to produce fuel. Naturally drought-tolerant sorghum can be used to produce starch, sugar and cellulose-based ethanol. Grain sorghum is an excellent option for ethanol production because it produces the same amount of ethanol per bushel as corn and can be grown using one-third less water.