Masters of the Market: High-Protein Technologies

by Lisa Gibson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) High-protein technologies are transforming the ethanol industry’s feed coproduct stream. Success will require more involvement in markets and closer relationships with end users. For those willing to put the time in, the payback could be significant.

The only way ethanol producers will get the optimal value—and return on investment—from high-protein feed is to commit to immersion in the feed industry, says Mallorie Wilken, technical consultant with ICM Inc. “This is very much a mind and industry shift in the ethanol industry to become part of the feed industry, if and when they install these technologies,” she says. “You’re committing to both of these industries.”

Interest in producing high-protein feed is growing in the ethanol industry, as Fluid Quip Technologies is already engineering its ninth installation of its Maximum Stillage Coproduct system, according to Keith Jakel, sales and marketing manager for FQT. ICM’s Fiber Separation Technology also is installed at about 10 plants. While DDGS have a place in the market as a commodity, high-protein, functional feed represents not only entirely new products, but new sales strategies and markets, as well. The value and revenue potential is enormous, but producers looking to make an investment and enter those markets should be prepared, Jakel and other experts agree.

Animal feeders did their own research on DDGS to figure out how to make the best use of it, Wilken says. But with high-protein feed, the ethanol industry needs to commit to that research and bring it to the animal feeders. “Now, when we start specifying these products, we have to bring the research first,” she says. “So instead of having a market pull, we’re really pushing this into the market and showing value at the beginning to encourage the shift and the change, and bringing more value.”

It can take 12 to 18 months to get into some specialty high-protein markets, Becker says, adding that some end users have a two-year vetting period. Pet feed markets, for example, have intensely rigid specifications, and changing a pet food bag to reflect new ingredients is a massive undertaking, he says.

In addition, those end users want to know a high-protein ration will be consistent and redundant. If the plant goes down, the buyer needs to be able to get that exact high-protein product elsewhere. Quality control and assurance come into play in a pet feed or aquaculture market, as well, Becker adds. Trucks pulling loads need to be cleaned properly after the previous load, for example. Historically, the ethanol industry hasn’t had to spend time on these details with its DDGS coproduct.

Ethanol producers tend to be disconnected from the end users, Wilken says. That will need to change in the new high-protein feed market.

Yeast Research and Role
High-protein feed systems are separating out and concentrating more protein than ever before, but they’re also pulling out the yeast portion more effectively. Many producers aren’t aware of the importance of yeast in feed, Wilken says. “The yeast isn’t vital to the protein portion,” she says. “But it has the cell wall components that really help in animal digestion and animal health.” Re-introducing that yeast portion opens specialized markets such as nursery pigs, to boost immunity, she says. “It provides a very low fiber, low fat that’s going to help really set them up for great performance.”

Enzymes and engineered yeast can be developed to complement high-protein feed technologies, allowing for increased protein content, improved amino acid composition, and expression of different compounds that are beneficial to the animal, DeMartini says. “You can really think of a large range of things that yeast has the potential to do, and since it’s such a large component of the protein coproduct, there’s quite a bit of potential there.” READ MORE