How does price of DDGS compare to corn, soybean meal and dicalcium phosphate?
The price of DDGS, like all other feed ingredients, is determined by a variety of external factors that affect supply and demand. Commodity traders establish the market price based on protein and energy value. DDGS prices track corn and soybean meal prices fairly closely. Since DDGS has traditionally been used more in the dairy industry, it has been valued more for its by-pass protein content than its energy value. However, simply basing your decision on cost/lb. of protein when comparing the price of DDGS to other ingredients will undervalue its energy and phosphorus value and overvalue protein in swine feeds. Phosphorus is the third most expensive nutrient in swine diets. One of the main advantages of using DDGS in swine diets is its relatively high available phosphorus content (0.66%) compared to other grains and grain co-products. This high available phosphorus level enables nutritionists to use less supplemental inorganic phosphate (e.g. dicalcium phosphate) to reduce diet cost wh
