10 surprisingly useful waste products

Think about all of the things you interact with day-to-day. Everything we use, eat, wear, and interact with originated from one of two places; a farm or the natural world. We have found out lots of cool ways to reconstruct materials that were farmed or mined into the things we recognize as final products, but we need to be aware that all of these materials originate from planet Earth.

For this reason and others, it is always a good idea to use and reuse everything we can. In agriculture, many by-products are given important and useful purposes. Read through to learn more about a few ways agriculture saves money and resources by using by-products!

1. Dried distillers grains

Ethanol is primarily produced using corn. Ethanol is created by converting the starches in the corn kernel into sugars and then alcohol (ethanol). The rest of the corn kernel solids cannot be converted into ethanol, and are therefore by-products. This material, called dried distillers grains or DDGs, is a common and very cost efficient feed source for livestock. It is a protein-dense material that can be a good addition to a balanced feed ration.

2. Sunflower hulls

Have you ever eaten sunflowers out of the hull? Have you wondered what they did with the hull? Well, there are a few good purposes for them! They can be ground and used as a fibre or roughage source for some livestock species, they can be used to power oil mills (think sunflower oil), or they can be used for bedding for poultry or other livestock. Though they are bulky and not very cost effective to ship, this can be a great resource for various types of producers nearby sunflower facilities.

3. Potato peels

Potatoes, like many other fruits and vegetables, get processed in many ways. This can generate a lot of what could be considered food waste — but it doesn’t all go to waste! Potato peels can be another part of a healthy feed ration for cattle or pigs as it is high in fibre.

4. Candy seconds

You maybe remember a couple of years ago there was a big news story about a truckload of Skittles that overturned on the way to a cattle farm. This practice isn’t so out of the ordinary, and can save both the candy makers and cattle farmers money! In the particular news story that covered social media, the candy couldn’t be sold, because none of the Skittles had the trademark S. In order to recoup some of their losses, they sold it as seconds to a cattle farmer, who could use the candy as an energy source for their cattle.

When the opportunity to buy a truckload of red Skittles comes to a farmer, they will likely put in a quick call to a veterinarian or animal nutritionist to get some guidance on the correct way to balance the sugars with the other proteins, fibres, vitamins, and minerals that the animals need.

5. Produce waste

Though many grocery stores take seconds or over-ripe fresh fruits and vegetables to food banks and shelters, sometimes food items are no longer fit for human consumption. To avoid taking these goods to a landfill, a farmer may be able to get a truckload of these items to feed their livestock. Again, a nutritionist would likely be contacted to ensure the animals get the nutrients they need.

6. Bread store or bakery rejects

Similar to fruits and vegetables or even candy, many items do get donated, but others may not be fit for human consumption or sale. These items may be available in bulk for livestock feed. For example, I’ve heard one cattle rancher talk about unwrapping a truckload of snack cakes for his animals when the opportunity arose to get Hostess seconds!

7. Cotton seed

Cotton seeds and other cotton by-products aren’t very prevalent here in the Midwest, but they definitely are in some parts of the country! Cottonseed, cottonseed meal, and cottonseed hulls can all be parts of a healthy feed ration for cattle, according to this TAMU publication.

8. Manure

Lots of the by-products on this list are things that livestock — particularly cattle — can eat. However, they also generate something of a by-product that we use in agriculture! All livestock generate manure, which is a valuable organic fertilizer and is used on croplands. The manure can be tested for nutrient content along with the soil in the fields to make sure it is applied in the correct amount. Farmers may also inject the manure into the soil or incorporate it with tillage to minimize risks of the manure or nutrients being lost with erosion or volatization.

9. Livestock by-products

Though we generally raise livestock for meat, milk, eggs, and fibre, we can use the by-products for a wide variety of purposes. For example, fats and tallows from animals can be used in cosmetics or adhesives. Bones and connective tissues can be used in gelatin. Hides and hair can be used for leather goods, paint brushes, hair brushes, and more. In pork production, it is said that they use everything but the oink!

10. Corn stover

Corn stover is the term for the excess plant material that is left after the grain has been harvested. It includes the corn stalks, corn cobs, husks, and leaves. Though this can be left on the field to protect the soil and be broken down naturally, there are some other ways farmers can use it. This can be baled and used as bedding for livestock, it can be grazed by cattle as a low-quality roughage, or in some areas it can be used to create cellulosic ethanol (though this is not currently very common).

Waste is generated in lots of ways every day. However, by raising crops and livestock responsibly, agriculture can help redirect some of that waste by using it to produce more food, fuel, and fibre for us to use down the line.

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