Field Corn, also known as cow corn is a North American term for maize (Zea mays) grown for livestock fodder (silage and meal), ethanol, cereal and processed food product. The principal field corn varieties are dent corn. A flint incudes blue corn (Zea mays amylacea) and waxy corn.
Field corn is primarily grown for livestock feed and ethanol production is allowed to mature fully before being shelled off the cob and being stored in silos, pits, bins, or grain "flats".
Field corn can also be harvested as high-moisture corn, shelled off the cob and piled and packed like silage for fermentation; or the entire plant may be chopped while still very high in moisture, with the resulting silage either loaded and packed in plastic bags, piled and packed in pits, or blown into and stored in vertical silos.
People may pick ears of field corn when its sugar content has peaked and cook it on the cob or eat it raw. Ears of field corn picked and consumed in this manner are commonly called sweet corn, or "roasting ears" due to the most commonly used method of cooking them.
DDG crash corn is a by-product of the ethanol production process and has high nutrient feed valued suitable for the livestock. When ethanol plants produce ethanol, they use starch only from input grains like rice, corn, millets or wheat.
After starch extraction, the byproduct DDG crash corn contains protein, fiber, oil and essential amino acids suitable for livestock feed. This is an excellent animal feed as is containing high energy, mid-protein, and high digestible phosphorus content and this makes DDG crash corn a very attractive, partial replacement for some of the more expensive feed sources.
When DDG crash corn is added to properly formulated feeds, it results in excellent animal health, performance and food product quality. In dairy cow diets DDG crash corn can be included up to 20% and this result in greater milk production. When formulating diets containing DDG crash corn for lactating dairy cows, consideration should be given to type of forage, forage to concentrate ratio, crude fat content of DDG crash corn, and the need for supplemental crystalline lysine to achieve optimal performance.
DDG crash corn is relatively easy to digest and has high nutritional value. It has higher biological value than other gluten and has great health benefits for your livestock.
