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| Cattle that are fed with distiller's grain could be prone to E coli |
The implications of this work could be damaging to the ethanol industry, which makes money on the sale of the grains, which in turn saves costs on the disposing of the grain.
Scientists from Kansas State University (K-State) have found that cattle fed distiller's grain had twice the amount of E coli in their hindgut compared with cattle not fed the ethanol byproduct.
Distiller's grain is widely considered a quality animal feed and an efficient way of conserving energy compared with traditional feed production practices.
"This is a very interesting observation and is likely to have profound implications in food safety," said Dr TG Nagaraja, professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology at K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr Nagaraja says distiller's grain is an economic benefit to ethanol producers, which is why ethanol production facilities are often located near feedlots.
Statistics from the Renewable Fuel Association have shown a dramatic increase in US ethanol production. In 2005, the US produced 3.9 billion gallons, rising to 4.9 billion gallons in 2006. Between January and September 2007, an estimated 4.7 billion gallons had already been produced.
"Feeding cattle distiller's grain is a big economic advantage for ethanol plants," Dr Nagaraja said. "We realize we can't tell cattle producers 'Don't feed distiller's grain.' What we want to do is not only understand the reasons why O157 increases, but also find a way to prevent that from happening."
Using distiller's grain as cattle feed has become a successful equation for many US farmers.
The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) says that livestock producers are also corn growers, which allows them to capitalize on using manure as a natural fertilizer and to feed their own grain back to their livestock.
"Adding the co-products from ethanol production to the equation offers farmers even greater flexibility and an ability to maintain the cycle of sustainability by feeding livestock, which produce manure to fertilize crop production and make more corn available for livestock feeding or ethanol processing," ICGA said.
K-State will continue to research why E coli rates are higher in cattle that are fed distiller's grain. Among the possibilities, Dr Nagaraja says, are that distiller's grain provides a nutrient for bacteria in the animal's hindgut, or that the hindgut itself changes as a result of being introduced to a distiller's grain diet.
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