DDGS (Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles)

What DDGS is

DDGS means dried distillers grains with solubles. Purdue Extension publication AS-603-W, Value of Distiller’s Grains as a Feed for Sheep (2010), describes it as a co-product of ethanol production. In the dry-grind process that newer ethanol plants use, wet distillers grains are combined with condensed distillers solubles and the mixture is dried. Corn is the grain used most often in the United States. Sorghum, wheat, or barley can be used too.

Most of the starch in the grain is fermented away. Purdue says what is left for the animal to use as energy is mainly fat and digestible fiber. The publication classifies DDGS first as a protein feed, and also as a high-energy feed. It calls DDGS a good source of ruminally undegradable intake protein, sometimes called bypass protein. The fiber fraction is highly digestible. Purdue states that distillers grains generally contain 10% to 15% more energy than corn grain, citing Hippen et al. (2008), because of the fat. Replacing some of the corn in a diet with DDGS shifts that energy from starch toward digestible fiber and fat. The same publication says the lower starch does not change rumen pH as sharply right after feeding, so the chance of rumen acidosis can be lower than with a grain-based diet.

South Dakota State University Extension Extra 2052, Feeding Soy Hulls and Dried Distillers Grain with Solubles to Sheep (Jeff Held, 2006), describes DDGS the same way: a high-fiber, low-starch co-product that is classified as a protein feed, and an energy-dense feed that can replace a portion of forage or grain.

Plants do not all make it the same way. Purdue says the nutrient content can vary with the distilling plant, the drying process, and how much solubles are added back. Heat during drying can bind crude protein and reduce how much the animal can use. The Ohio State University Small Ruminant Team article Are Distillers Grains Right for Your Operation? (Brayden Thompson, 2023) makes the same point: drying time and temperature, the amount of solubles added back, how the grain is processed, and which grain is used all change the feed. That article says grain dried too hard turns darker, and the Maillard reaction binds proteins and carbohydrates so rumen microbes have a harder time digesting them. It also says batches from the same plant can differ.

A few names on a tag are not the same product. Purdue separates them this way:

• Dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) are wet distillers grains plus condensed distillers solubles, then dried.
• Dried distillers grains (DDG) are dried without the solubles added back.
• Condensed distillers solubles are the liquid left after evaporation, also called syrup. Purdue says this fraction is mostly fat, low in fermentable fiber, and higher in minerals, including phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur. Adding more of it back raises fat and minerals and lowers crude protein, because the syrup dilutes the grains.
• Wet distillers grains with solubles are not dried. Purdue says storage time depends on temperature and is generally about 3 to 7 days, so a load can spoil before a smaller sheep flock uses it. DDGS, being dry, stores longer. Purdue also says the fine texture of DDGS can bridge in feeders and bins, and that loose or bunker storage may help.

The Ohio State article says distillers grains were a whiskey-industry byproduct before fuel ethanol, and that whiskey plants still sell them, usually wet, with moisture often upwards of 60%. It also says distillers grains are not brewers grains. Brewers grains come from beer making; the article names hops and barley.

Why DDGS shows up on sheep feed tags

A feed tag lists an ingredient when the mill put it in the formula. Extension publications describe DDGS as a protein and energy ingredient for sheep, which is why the name shows up both as a bulk commodity and inside mixed feeds. The wording on the tag is not always “DDGS.” In this directory, the ingredient lines on file use several of the names above. Those products are linked in the last section.

Purdue says sheep flocks have been slower than beef and dairy operations to use ethanol co-products, partly because less sheep feeding information has been published and partly because many sheep operations are too small for bulk commodity deliveries. The publication still treats DDGS as the ethanol co-product of most interest to sheep producers in the Midwest, because the dried form stores longer than wet distillers grains and is more practical for small and medium flocks.

DDGS nutrient profile

Purdue prints a range. SDSU prints a single set of values from its 2006 table. Where the same nutrient appears in both, the SDSU figure sits inside the Purdue range.

Purdue Extension AS-603-W, Table 1, reports DDGS nutrients as a percent of dry matter:

Nutrient	DDGS range (% of dry matter)
Crude protein	28–32
NDF	37–45
Fat	9.0–12.0
Phosphorus	0.7–1.3
Sulfur	0.4–0.8

Source: Purdue Extension AS-603-W.

South Dakota State University Extension Extra 2052, Table 1, reports this DDGS column on a dry matter basis:

Nutrient	DDGS
Crude protein	29
TDN	90
Fat	10.6
Calcium	0.28
Phosphorus	0.79
Copper (ppm)	6

Source: SDSU Extension Extra 2052. In the text of that same publication, Held compares DDGS with soybean meal as about 30% crude protein versus 48%, and says DDGS crude protein is approximately 40% lower.

Purdue says routine chemical analysis matters because plants, drying, and the amount of solubles change the feed. The range and the 2006 table describe those publications. The load being fed still needs its own analysis.

Feeding DDGS to sheep

The figures below are the inclusion levels those publications report for the classes of sheep they name. A show-lamb rate belongs on a product label. Commodity DDGS has no feeding-rate label on file in this directory.

Purdue Extension AS-603-W says DDGS can be used for most classes of sheep, in a total mixed ration, as part of the grain mix, or as a supplement to marginal-quality forage. Whether to use it depends on availability and on cost compared with other feeds. The publication says use in finishing-lamb and ewe diets tends to be the more economical place for it, that the price generally moves with corn, and that DDGS is generally a practical, cost-effective protein source because protein is usually the most expensive part of a diet. It does not print a price.

Purdue’s formulation notes, which sit next to the precautions in the next section:

• For growing and finishing lambs, DDGS can be fed at 25% to 50% of diet dry matter. At those levels Purdue says it is supplying both energy and protein.
• Inclusions of 20% to 25% can often meet the crude protein needs of finishing lambs and of ewes in lactation. The actual share depends on the protein in the rest of the diet and on what that animal needs.
• For ewes on low-quality forage, most likely in mid-gestation or when they are not pregnant, Purdue says 0.5% to 1.0% of body weight daily can be fed as a crude protein supplement. In late gestation and lactation, the same publication says DDGS can supply protein or energy, depending on forage quality.

SDSU Extension Extra 2052 treats DDGS as best suited, on cost per unit of nutrient, to the protein role, because that is where it competes with feeds such as soybean meal. Held writes that ewe lactation studies comparing DDGS with soybean meal as the protein supplement showed no difference in ewe body condition score or in suckling lamb gain. A lactation study that used DDGS to replace two-thirds of the corn, equal to 25% of the diet, improved growth of triplet-reared lambs by 12%. Singles and twins were not different. The same publication says that even when the cost per unit of protein favors DDGS, the higher inclusion (protein is lower than in soybean meal) adds considerably more phosphorus, which makes the ration harder to balance.

Under its 2006 example rations for 200-pound ewes, SDSU prints this limit for the limit-forage rations: less than 20% DDGS, and at least 1 pound of long-stemmed forage when soyhulls are used. Those example rations also list 2006 ingredient prices. The prices and the pound-by-pound menus stay in the SDSU publication. Soy hull pellets are the soybean-hull ingredient in this directory. Purdue’s summary of SDSU finishing-lamb work (Zelinsky, 2006) says DDGS at 17.3% of dietary dry matter, combined with soybean hulls, was used as the primary protein source with no effect on growth performance or carcass traits compared with soybean meal diets.

Purdue also summarizes other research, which used higher shares than the formulation notes above:

• North Dakota State University work (Schauer et al., 2008), as Purdue reports it: with supplemental thiamin, DDGS replaced up to 60% of a lamb finishing ration with no negative effects on feedlot performance or carcass traits. Final weight, average daily gain, and feed efficiency were not affected. Feed intake rose as the DDGS share rose. Flank streaking increased slightly. Purdue says those diets did not show deleterious effects from the higher sulfur, presumably because supplemental thiamin was provided.
• Purdue’s own feedlot work: lambs were fed a ration that was 50% DDGS without a negative effect on performance or carcass characteristics. The fatty acid profile of the meat did not differ between lambs fed 50% DDGS and lambs fed 25% DDGS.
• In Purdue trials, diets with 25% to 50% DDGS included 10 mg of thiamine per pound of dietary intake. The publication says that level was used successfully in those trials to prevent polioencephalomalacia.

Those are research diets described by Purdue. They sit above the formulation ranges in the same publication, and they belong with the sulfur precautions below.

The Ohio State article says one place a flock might use DDGS is creep feeding, which it defines as offering grain to lambs before weaning, and another is mixing it into the ration. It suggests asking the feed mill whether they handle DDGS and how that would change the cost of the ration. The article gives no inclusion rate.

Sulfur, phosphorus, and copper cautions for sheep

Purdue’s precaution section is the fullest extension write-up read for this page. The publication says DDGS can be used in sheep feeding programs, and that precautions still apply.

Phosphorus and urinary calculi. Purdue says DDGS is high in phosphorus, and that a high level can leave calcium and phosphorus out of proportion. That disproportion may predispose male sheep to urinary calculi, mineral deposits in the bladder and urinary tract that make urination difficult and can block the urethra. Purdue says the imbalance may be offset by feeding supplemental limestone and adding a urine acidifier to the diet. SDSU’s note, above, is the same phosphorus problem from the formulation side: a higher DDGS inclusion adds considerably more phosphorus.

Sulfur and polioencephalomalacia. Purdue’s Table 1 lists sulfur in DDGS at 0.4% to 0.8% of dry matter, and says diets that include DDGS are likely to carry more sulfur than traditional diets. High dietary sulfur, on top of other sulfur sources such as water, fish meal, and sulfur-based drugs used to control coccidiosis, can result in polioencephalomalacia. Purdue attributes that to excess hydrogen sulfide and to depressed thiamine uptake in the rumen.

Michigan State University extension specialist Richard Ehrhardt, in PEM or “Polio” in Small Ruminants (republished by the Ohio State Small Ruminant Team), writes that excessive sulfur is another cause of polioencephalomalacia, documented more thoroughly in cattle than in sheep, and that wet or dry distillers grains with solubles are among the elevated sulfur sources in sheep and goat diets. He says the sulfur in those feeds can vary by plant or by batch, because acidifying agents such as sulfuric acid are used during production and plants do not all use them the same way. The article says blanket statements that ethanol by-product feeds are high in sulfur cannot be made. The same article says most PEM cases are tied to a feed change, and that gradual diet transitions reduce PEM along with other health problems. It gives no DDGS inclusion cap.

Fat. Purdue says ruminant diets should not contain more than 8% total dietary fat, because more fat than that can depress fiber digestion in the rumen and suppress performance. The publication says this matters more when forage is the main feed, and less in the high-concentrate diets used to finish lambs in a feedlot. It also says too much fat has been shown to reduce feedlot performance.

Copper. Purdue Extension AS-603-W says high levels of dietary copper are always a concern in sheep, as they are especially sensitive to copper poisoning, and that the level of copper in DDGS should be analyzed, as with any dietary ingredient fed to sheep. SDSU Extension Extra 2052, Table 1, lists copper (ppm) as 6 for the DDGS column in that profile, on a dry matter basis.

Mycotoxins. Purdue says mycotoxins are not destroyed by fermentation. Removing the starch concentrates what remains by about three times, so mycotoxins that were in the original corn are more concentrated in the DDGS.

Nitrogen, sodium, and manure. Purdue says DDGS is high in sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen, that rations using it may exceed the animal’s requirement for those nutrients and also for sodium and fat, and that excess nutrients are excreted, which can matter when manure is spread.

Directory feeds that list DDGS or distillers grains

These pages are feeds and supplements already in this directory whose recorded ingredient lists include a distillers-grains ingredient. The tag wording is copied from that list.

• Evolution HI-PRO lists “Dried distillers grain solubles (DDGS).”
• Opti-Ferm XL lists “Corn Distillers Dried Grain with Solubles.”
• Fresh & Feminine (Sheep & Goat) lists “Corn Distillers Grains with Solubles.”
• High Octane Champion Drive lists “Corn Distillers Dried Grains.” Purdue’s definitions above treat dried distillers grains without “solubles” in the name as the co-product dried without solubles added back.
• DED HED lists “Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles.”