NEW APPEAL FOR FEATHER MEAL
BY DAN LEMKE
Redwood Falls, Minn.
- Feathers and glycerin - byproducts of livestock rendering
and biofuel productions - may be an ideal match for cattle
diets.
FUMPA Biofuels, a division of Farmers Union Marketing and
Processing Association, has patented a process for blending
feather meal and glycerin into an ingredient for cattle feed
rations. AURI’s coproduct utilization lab in Waseca designed
a method for making pellets from the mixture.
FUMPA will use glycerin from its soon-to-be operational
biodiesel production facility in Redwood Falls - and
hydrolyzed feather meal from another FUMPA division in
Redwood Falls: Central Bi-Products rendering plant.
“We’ll be taking two byproduct streams and making them both
more valuable,” says Chuck Neece, FUMPA Biofuels research
and development director.
Hydrolyzed feather meal has relatively low density, so
shipping it long distances as a feed product is not
economical. But blended with glycerin in pellet form, the
meal becomes available for new market. Glycerin, chemically
classified as an alcohol, is a byproduct of the trans-esterification
process used to make biodiesel and is often found in soap
and beauty products.
“Adding glycerin increases the energy value and density of
the product,” says Al Doering, AURI technical services
specialist, “which makes which makes it more economical to
transport ... and an attractive ingredient for livestock
feed.”
The blending “improves the overall nutritional profile of
the product,” Neece says. “It mixes well with other
ingredients, is easy to use and flows easily.”
The meal will be distributed to livestock feed manufacturers
and used primarily for beef and dairy rations.
While feed companies are interested, Food and Drug
Administration rules are slowing the blended ingredient’s
move to commercialization.
However, Neece expects feather meal pellets will receive a
warm reception. Cattle feed “is a very nice market for this
product,” Neece says. “It could even assist (feed)
processors in reaching export markets.”
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