US DDGS experts target consistency gaps with plant process controls

Market participants at the Distillers Technology Council Symposium in Minneapolis highlighted growing concern over quality and consistency in US dried distillers grains with solubles, as evolving customer demands place greater scrutiny on nutrient reliability and process transparency.

Speakers from major ethanol technology and production plants said on April 14 that variability in DDGS remains a persistent issue for both producers and end-users, with inconsistency increasingly viewed as a risk to market confidence and long-term value.

Roji Philip, director at Green Plains, emphasized the need to reassess testing frameworks and their relevance to end-use performance.

"Figure out if we're testing the right things," Philip said, noting that variability in amino acids, protein content and digestibility continues to challenge feed formulators. He added that producers must better understand which elements of production are within their control, particularly as co-product priorities, such as corn oil extraction, can impact DDGS output.

"We are not doing enough to not sacrifice one process to fix another," Philip said.

Maha Dakar, chemical engineer at Katzen International, pointed to operational discipline and process-level awareness as critical factors in reducing variability.

She said producers must focus on "the little things," including particle variability, evaporation systems, and water recycling, which can collectively influence product consistency. While some plants aim to maintain stability through coordinated plant-wide efforts, Dakar noted that achieving uniformity remains difficult in practice. "What goes into the animal, goes into us," she said, stressing the importance of consistent feed quality and warning against wide variation between shipments from the same producer. "We need to create the value for DDGS that got lost."

Aaron Williamson, technology integration manager at ICM, highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence in improving process control and reducing variability. According to Williamson, AI tools are increasingly used to sift through plant data and identify inefficiencies, but human oversight remains essential. "We need human knowledge to compensate for curveballs with AI," he said, describing the need for a balanced approach between automation and operational expertise.

Williamson added that many plants are re-evaluating fermentation processes, including yeast selection and solids verification to improve consistency. Third-party testing is also being used more widely to validate results, though he cautioned against overreliance on single data points. "A thrown result doesn't mean it's right," Williamson said.

The executives agreed that standardizing production and testing processes could help reduce inconsistencies, though aligning across facilities remains a challenge. Industry education and the establishment of clearer industry standards and specification consistency were identified as key steps to maintaining DDGS value in increasingly competitive global feed markets.

The discussion underscored a wider shift in the DDGS sector, where buyers are demanding tighter specifications and greater transparency, pushing producers to refine both process control and quality assurance strategies.