USGC FINDS CORN FROM US OUTPERFORMS OTHER ORIGINS
US corn outperformed products from other origins in the second year of the Corn Origins Report by the US Grains Council (USGC). The study found that birds fed diets with US corn consumed less feed throughout the entire grow-out phase compared to those fed Argentinian or Brazilian corn. There are numerous advantages to buying US corn, the USGC said, including higher levels of available starch for animal digestibility, lower levels of mycotoxins, and larger kernel size.
In the newest study, commercial corn samples were collected from the warehouse of an international feed company in Colombia — US, Argentinian and Brazilian corn. In terms of body weight and body weight gain, the new study found no statistical differences among birds fed diets with corn from different origins. However, birds fed diets with US corn consumed less feed throughout the entire growth phase (days 1 to 35). These differences in intake were more significant as the birds grew larger, with no significant intake differences between 1 and 21 days of age. Even slight variations in feed intake can add up over time, the study said, due to a multiplier effect that is at play. With a lower feed conversion rate of 1.376, the use of US corn is expected to result in cost savings of around $10,394 per year over Argentinian corn for a poultry farm introducing 60,000 chicks on a weekly basis and $6,622 per year over Brazilian corn for a poultry farm introducing 60,000 chicks on a weekly basis.
The savings increase significantly for farms that introduce 1.2 million chicks per week to $199,109 per year over Argentinian corn and $132,441 per year over Brazilian corn. “When the Council originally started this study, we were hoping to address our international customers’ concerns around the fragility of US corn and the breakage that occurs during the export process,” said Kurt Shultz, senior director for global strategies at the USGC. “So, we went to the warehouses of our customers to get corn at the end of the export channel, in the process of conducting the study, we found that US corn despite its fragility, outperforms other origins in terms of digestible starch.
(Link: WorldGrain)
