Animal feed supplement

Claim 2

A process for producing a moist, cohesive, friable, readily transportable animal feed supplement from wet corn bran and corn steep liquor exiting a wet corn milling process consisting essentially of: (a) mechanically de-watering the wet corn bran to a solids content of from 30% to 50% by weight; (b) thoroughly admixing the de-watered bran with concentrated corn steep liquor having a solids content of from 40% to 55% by weight in a ratio of de-watered corn bran:concentrated corn steep liquor of from 3:1 to 1:2, the resulting mixture having a solids content of from 35% to 50% by weight; and (c) compacting the resulting mixture to form a moist, cohesive, friable, readily transportable mass having a bulk density of from 50 to 65 lb/cuft, a pH of less than 4.5 and a protein content of at least 20% on a dry matter basis said animal feed supplement having storage stability for a period of time from two weeks to seven months.

Claim 3

A process according to claim 1 wherein the pH of the moist cohesive mass of step (c) is from 3.50 to 4.2.

Claim 4

A process according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the mass produced in step (c) contains lactobacillus microorganisms in the amount of at least 1000/gm.

Claim 5

A process according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the moist cohesive mass of step (c) has a protein content of from 20% to 30% and a pH of from 3.5 to 4.1.

Claim 6

A process according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the wet corn bran is de-watered to a solids content of from 35% to 45%; the corn steep liquor has a solids content of from 45% to 50% and the said two components are mixed in a ratio of from 3:1 to 1:1; and the moist cohesive mass has a solids content of from 38% to 42%, and a protein content of 22-25%.

Claim 7

A process for producing a moist, cohesive, friable, readily transportable microbiologically stable fermented animal feed supplement from wet corn bran and corn steep liquor exiting a wet corn milling process consisting essentially of: (a) mechanically de-watering the wet corn bran to a solids content of from 30% to 50% by weight; (b) thoroughly admixing the de-watered bran with concentrated corn steep liquor having a solids content of from 45% to 55% by weight in the ratio of de-watered corn bran:concentrated corn steep liquor or from 3:1 to 1:1 and the resulting mixture has a solids content of from 35% to 50% by weight; (c) compacting the resulting mixture to form a moist, cohesive, friable, readily transportable mass having a bulk density of from 50 to 65 lb/cuft, a pH of less than 4.5 and a protein content of at least 20% on a dry matter basis; and (d) permitting said compacted moist cohesive mass to subsequently undergo a natural fermentation in a substantially anaerobic condition, said mass having a pH of less than 4.25 which mass is gravitationally and microbiologically stable for a period of time from two weeks to seven months and readily reduced to a non-agglomerating product.

Claim 8

A process for producing a moist, cohesive, friable, readily transportable microbiologically stable fermented animal feed supplement from wet corn bran and corn steep liquor exiting a wet corn milling process consisting essentially of: (a) mechanically de-watering the wet corn bran to a solids content of from 30% to 50% by weight; (b) thoroughly admixing the de-watered bran with concentrated corn steep liquor having a solids content of from 45% to 55% by weight in the ratio of de-watered corn bran:concentrated corn steep liquor or from 3:1 to 1:1 and the resulting mixture has a solids content of from 35% to 50% by weight; (c) compacting the resulting mixture to form a moist, cohesive, friable, readily transportable mass having a bulk density of from 50 to 65 lb/cuft, a pH of less than 4.5 and a protein content of at least 20% on a dry matter basis; and (d) permitting said compacted moist cohesive mass to subsequently undergo a natural fermentation in a substantially anaerobic condition, said mass having a pH of less than 4.25 which mass is gravitationally and microbiologically stable for a period of time from two weeks to seven months and readily reduced to a non-agglomerating product.

Claim 9

A process according to claim 6 wherein said fermentation lasts for a period of at least seven (7) days.

Claim 10

A process according to claim 6 or 7 wherein the moist cohesive mass of step (c) has a pH of from 3.50 to 4.2.

Claim 11

A process according to claim 6 or 7 wherein the moist cohesive mass of step (c) has a protein content of from 20% to 30% and a pH of from 3.5 to 4.1.

Claim 12

A process according to claim 6 or 7 wherein a product of step (d) has a lactobacillus microorganism content of at least 1000/gm.

Claim 13

In a wet corn milling process wherein wet corn bran is dewatered to increase its solids content before drying with heat and wherein concentrated corn steep liquor is a by-product of said process, the improvement consisting essentially of mixing said dewatered bran with said concentrated corn steep liquor in a ratio of about 3:1 to about 1:2 to provide a moist, cohesive, friable, readily transportable animal feed supplement having a solids content of about 35 to about 50 weight % whereby the need to dry said dewatered wet corn bran with heat is eliminated and whereby said animal feed supplement is resistant to microbial degradation for a period of time from two weeks to seven months.

Claim 14

In a wet corn milling process wherein wet corn bran is dewatered to increase its solids content before drying with heat and wherein concentrated corn steep liquor is a by-product of said process, the improvement consisting essentially of mixing said dewatered bran with said concentrated corn steep liquor in a ratio of about 3:1 to about 1:2 to provide a moist, cohesive, friable, readily transportable animal feed supplement having a solids content of about 35 to about 50 weight % whereby the need to dry said dewatered wet corn bran with heat is eliminated and whereby said animal feed supplement is resistant to microbial degradation for a period of time from two weeks to seven months.