A Virginia ethanol plant that uses barley as a feedstock will be offering a unique co-product as livestock feed when it comes on line later this year.
Osage Bio Energy has contracted with Land O’Lakes Purina Feed to market its barley protein meal (BPM), a co-product of its ethanol bio-processing operation. Osage Bio Energy’s first plant, Appomattox Bio Energy, located in Hopewell, Va., is currently under construction and scheduled to come online in late spring 2010. When complete, it will be the first commercial scale barley-to-ethanol processing plant in the United States.
The company reports that BPM is a “new protein-rich animal feed ingredient.”
The innovative process design of Osage Bio Energy’s plant includes a specialized milling technique that removes the hulls from the barley — thus reducing the fiber and concentrating the protein and starch. The hulls will be pelletized on-site and sold as a renewable fuel source.
Through the use of special enzymes during fermentation, the plant will convert the problematic waxy beta-glucans in the barley into ethanol, preventing them from becoming part of the BPM. Additionally, state-of-the-art ring dryers will shorten the BPM drying time and preserve the proteins and amino acids.
The nutritional profile of BPM has unique characteristics that differentiate it in the feeding world. It has a low fat profile and high protein and lysine content relative to other grain-based feeds. Additionally, because the product is derived from barley that has not been genetically modified, it represents a new source of non-GMO animal feed for global customers.
Appomattox Bio Energy has the capacity to produce up to 250,000 tons per year of barley protein meal annually.