The Factory Farming—Ethanol Connection
So what does ethanol have to do with factory farming?
The profitability of ethanol plants depends on not only government subsidies and the price of corn and natural gas, but also on being able to sell the byproduct—wet or dried distillers grains (also known as spent mash). The market for this byproduct is the intensive livestock industry—cattle feedlots and intensive hog operations.
The expansion of ethanol production requires expansion of intensive livestock operations. While ethanol is claimed to be a solution to climate change problems, intensive livestock production contributes 80% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions, and comprises 18% of the worlds GHG emissions, according to the comprehensive UN FAO report, Livestock’s Long Shadow
In Saskatchewan an integrated feedlot-ethanol plant business plan is being promoted as the template for ethanol development. By integrating the feedlot with the ethanol plant the spent mash (DDGS) can be fed directly to the cattle.
An ethanol plant is a large distillery for making alcohol.
The basic recipe is:
- Feedstock (corn, wheat, sugar cane, etc.)
- Water
- Yeast and Enzymes
Cook according to directions.
Yield: Ethanol, water, DDGS (distillers dried grains with solubles) and CO2.
The feedlot is primarily a waste disposal opportunity for the ethanol plant, as the DDGS can be fed to cattle, to a maximum of 30% of their feed.
A feasibilty study (pdf, page iv) done for APAS in 2004, shows a picture of the integrated 15 million litre ethanol plant-28,000 head feedlot near Lanigan, SK and says: “The point is that the ethanol plant in the centre-front of the picture is a very small facility in comparison to the whole feedlot complex. We are actually talking about a feedlot business from a visual, environmental and management point of view.”
For additional pictures of the Lanigan feedlot-ethanol complex see the slide show.