Double
Rolled Milo... Do It Right!
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by Dr. James I. Sprague, Nutritionist
Good processing critical for milo
This is one statement that all beef nutritionist can agree on: Milo
is an unforgiving grain for beef cattle to digest unless it is processed
correctly. The September/October 2004 issue of Feed-Lot Magazine reported
a news release from Kansas State University about the importance of
fine rolled milo versus coarsely rolled grain. Professor John Brethour’s
research at the Hays, Kansas, station reported that fine rolled milo
resulted in being 94 percent the value of corn compared to only 88
percent for the coarsely processed milo. They used a double stack
roller mill to achieve fine particles of grain with little dust. The
fine particles give more surface area for rumen and lower tract.
Milo grain is difficult to digest, caused by the compact density of
the starch and each starch granule is wrapped by a matrix of protein.
The result is milo berries are low in digestibility, not only in the
starch but also the protein too. Therefore, the critical solution
for milo is adequate processing.
Steam processing is ideal, but many feedlots do not have steam flaking
equipment. Cost of the equipment for flaking, quality of the water
for the boiler, energy costs are only some of the reasons.
Double stack mills
Double stack roller mills have been around for many years. The action
is to get a medium cut on the top roll and a fine cut on the lower
roll. The combination of a top set and a bottom set allows the mill
to roll faster than when a single set of rolls are used. A single
roll with fine corrugations will feed slowly to get an acceptable
particle size. A single set of rolls will work only if the corrugations
are small and a slow rolling speed is used. The double stack mills
are set up with a differential speed on one of the rolls to get some
grinding action along with the cutting action.
Hammer milled milo
Hammer milling milo is an acceptable procedure to get a reasonable
feed efficiency, but it needs to be fed with silage or some other
succulent feed to increase the palatability. One of the problems of
hammer milling is the size of the screens. Small screen sizes lead
to better feed efficiency. But larger screens cause considerable whole
milo to pass through the cattle undigested. Another problem of hammer
milling is the possibility of dust explosions from the fine powder.
Tramp metal may set off sparks in the system causing an explosion.
My recommendation is that hammer milled milo will work particularly
for growing rations if silage is also fed. The critical solution is
adequate processing of milo. ©
