3 Products Making Whole Cottonseed Storage and Handling Easier
• Posted in Articles
When choosing a feed ingredient for your cattle, whole cottonseed is an excellent choice. As a triple-nutrient feedstuff containing fat, fiber and protein,1 cottonseed is a valuable option for beef and dairy producers. Although it boasts plenty of benefits, it can be a challenge to handle and store whole fuzzy cottonseed.
With new technology, solutions for easier handling and storage have been developed to help make whole cottonseed even better for producers of all operation sizes and styles. Emerging products like EasiFlo™, CottonFlo™ and FuzZpellet™ are helping get whole cottonseed where it couldn’t go before.
EasiFlo Coated Cottonseed
EasiFlo is a coated cottonseed product designed to make the handling process easier and more manageable. Cornstarch is mixed with water and heated to near boiling, creating a gelatinized paste that is applied to the outer fuzzy layer on whole cottonseed. The process creates a hard durable crust that seals in lint, resulting in improved handling characteristics and higher storage density. This coated cottonseed flows like grain so beef and dairy producers can use their existing equipment to move and store it.
CottonFlo Delinted Cottonseed
CottonFlo is a partially delinted cottonseed product designed with cattle producers in mind. During this process, the whole cottonseed must undergo a regulated cleaning process that removes sticks, stems, dirt, rocks and other non-nutritional waste. Once the cottonseed is cleaned, the mechanical delinting process can begin. This process removes some of the fuzz so the seed flows like grain and is easier to handle. The production of CottonFlo is monitored under strict quality control to ensure beneficial results such as a higher bulk density, higher nutrient density, cleanliness and better flowability.2 In addition to easier handling, these benefits contribute to improved performance. In fact, partially delinted cottonseed has been shown to deliver equivalent or better milk and milk fat production in dairy cattle.3
FuzZpellet Cottonseed Pellets
FuzZpellet makes an appealing choice for dairy producers as a new customizable product. Whole fuzzy cottonseed is cleaned, delinted and gently blended, then comprressed into free-flowing pellets. These pellets can then be customized based on a producer’s needs and can be made using just the fat, fiber and protein of whole cottonseed or enhanced with micronutrients and minerals. FuzZpellet offers the highest bulk density of any flowable cottonseed product in the dairy industry. Suppliers can load 90 tons of product on a standard box car compared to 60 tons of whole cottonseed.
Whole cottonseed continues to be a valuable feed ingredient for beef and dairy producers, and now products like EasiFlo, CottonFlo and FuzZpellet provide a compelling opportunity to innovate current feed options. From increased bulk and nutrient densities to better flowability and storage, the benefits make whole cottonseed much easier to handle. Learn more about the benefits whole cottonseed can provide when included in beef and dairy cattle rations.
Ask your whole cottonseed supplier if any of the products are available to you. To find additional suppliers, visit the Cottonseed Marketplace at wholecottonseed.com.
CottonFlo™ and FuzZpellet™ are trademarks of CottonFeed, LLC.
1 Kellog, D. W., Pennington J.A., Johnson, Z.B. and Panivivat, R. 2001. Survey of management practices used for the highest producing DHI herds in the Unites States. J. Dairy. Sci. 84:E120– E127. doi:10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(01)70206–8
2 Kutches, A.J., Chalupa, W., Trei, J., 1987. Delinted cottonseed improves lactational response. Feedstuffs, 59 (34): 16-17
3 Harding, B. 2002. CottonFlo and FuzZPellet Value Added, Partially Delinted Cottonseed Feeds for the Dairy Industry(https://www.cotton.org/beltwide/proceedings/getPDF.cfm?year=2002&paper=B1002.pdf)
