An Excel spreadsheet developed at the University of Illinois helps pork producers determine the value of feeding distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) to their pigs.

University of Illinois Extension Swine Specialist Hans Stein and his postdoctoral student, Beob Kim, developed the new spreadsheet. “Producers can use their own costs for corn, soybean meal, DDGS, and other ingredients, and then calculate how much their diets cost without and with DDGS,” Stein explains.

The spreadsheet can be downloaded at the Illinois Pork Producers Association (IPPA) Web site, http://www.ilpork.com.

Stein says the spreadsheet resulted from producers’ questions about the economics of feeding DDGS to swine. “The answer to that question is not universal because producers have different costs.”

IPPA President Phil Borgic from Nokomis, IL, praised the work of Kim and Stein, adding, “We are proud of the fact that IPPA helped fund the swine Extension specialist position that brought Hans to Illinois.

“IPPA realized the serious financial situation facing pork producers, and we are doing everything we can to help producers deal with higher feed prices. The DDGS calculator gives producers another tool in making management decisions related to utilizing DDGS in swine diets and reducing the cost of feed rations.”

Stein has been active in numerous research efforts related to DDGS in swine diets. His research has received funding from the National Research Efficiency Consortium coordinated by the National Pork Board.