Dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) susceptibility to insect infestation

Protecting livestock feed from insect infestation is a common challenge that feed facility managers and farmers have to deal with. It becomes an issue of importance because insect infestation degrades feed quality and quantity. Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS) is added to livestock feed because of its high protein content. As DDGS usage in animal feed increases, understanding the susceptibility of DDGS, when mixed with livestock feed, to insect infestation is necessary for safe feed storage. This research looked at the susceptibility of DDGS, when stored as a raw ingredient, to Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) infestation. DDGS susceptibility to T. castaneum was lower when stored as a raw ingredient compared with normal T. castaneum laboratory diet at 30% r.h.. However, increasing r.h. to 50% and grinding DDGS samples, increased DDGS susceptibility to T. castaneum infestation. Then, susceptibility of livestock feed that contains DDGS to T. castaneum infestation was investigated. Results showed that adding any amount of DDGS to animal feed will not change diet susceptibility to T. castaneum infestation. DDGS particle size was the main factor affecting DDGS vulnerability to T. castaneum infestation. In conclusion, T. castaneum development significantly increased when fed DDGS. Diet particle size and environmental humidity had significant effects on T. castaneum development. It is recommended that facility managers store DDGS as a raw ingredient, pelletize DDGS if it is cost-effective, and keep the humidity at 30% or lower.