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Spikelets and Grains of Wheat on a White

Grains and Grain Products

Cereal grains and grain products add to the digestible energy of a feed, primarily from starch content (1).  Textured feeds tend to contain whole grains or grains processed by cracking, crimping, flaking, rolling, etc.  Doing so exposes the starch within and thereby improves the digestibility.  For pelleted and extruded feeds, grain meals and grain by-products like brans, germ, glutens tend to be used.  The starches, when gelatinizes by the application of heat and water, also help in the pellet forming process (2).


  1. NRC. (2009). Nutrient Requirements of Horses . (6th Ed.) National Academy Press, Washington D.C.

  2. California Pellet Mill Co. The Pelleting Process. California Pellet Mill Co.Retrieved July 11, 2018 from http://www.cpm.net/downloads/Animal%20Feed%20Pelleting.pdf


Definitions terms per AAFCO 2017 Official Publication

Bran = (Part) Pericap of grain.

Chopped, chopping = (Process) Reduced in particle size by cutting with knives or other edged instrument.

Cracked, cracking = (Process) Particle size reduced by a combined breaking and crushing action.

Crimped, crimping = (Process) Rolled by use of corrugated rollers.  It may curtail tempering or conditioning and cooling.

Expanded, expanding = (Process) Subjected to moisture, pressure, and temperature to gelantinize the starch portion.  When extruded, its volume is increased, due to abrupt reduction in pressure.

Flaked/Flaking = (Process) See Rolled

Flour = (Part) Soft, finely ground and bolted meal obtained from the milling of cereal grains, other seeds, or products.  It consists essentially of the starch and gluten of the endosperm.

Germ = (Part) The embryo found in seeds and frequently separated from the bran and starch endosperm during the milling.

Gluten = (Part) The tough, viscid nitrogenous substance remaining when the flour of wheat or other grain is washed to remove the starch.

Grain = (Part) Seed from cereal plant.

Ground, grinding = (Process) Reduced in particle size by impact, shearing, or attrition.

Kibbled, kibbling = (Process) Cracked or crushed baked dough, or extruded feed that has been cooked prior to or during the extrusion process.

Meal = (Physical form) An ingredient which has been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size.

Middlings = (Part) A by-product of flour milling comprising several grades of granular particles containing different proportions of endosperm, bran, germ, each of which contains different levels of crude fiber.

Pearled = (Process) Duhulled grains reduced by machine brushing into smaller smooth particles.

Popped, puffed = (Process) To expand whole or cracked processed grains or non-grains by heat with or without high pressure.  Examples of grains are corn, rice, wheat, millet, barley, buckwheat.  Example of non-grain is soybean.

Rolled, rolling = (Process) Having changed the shape and/or size of particles by compressing between rollers.  It may entail tempering or conditioning.


Common Grain and Grain Product Ingredients

Barley

  • Barley

  • Barley, expanded

  • Barley, flaked

  • Barley, pearled

  • Barley, rolled

  • Barley, Steam crimped

  • Barley, steam flaked

  • Barley, steam-rolled

  • Puffed barley

Corn (Maize)

  • Corn bran

  • Corn chop

  • Corn Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles

  • Corn feed meal

  • Corn flakes

  • Corn flour, cooked

  • Corn meal

  • Corn starch

  • Corn, cracked

  • Corn, flaked

  • Corn, ground

  • Corn, kibbled

  • Corn, steam crimped

  • Corn, whole

  • Distillers dried grains, corn

  • Distillers Dried Solubles, corn

  • Grains, distillers, dried, maize

  • Ground corn

  • Hominy feed

  • Maize

  • Maize bran

  • Maize flakes

  • Maize, expanded

  • Puffed corn

Distillers dried grains w/solubles

Distillers Dried Solubles, cereals

Grain products

Grain, processed by-products

Grains, distillers, dried

Oats

Oats

  • Oat, crimped

  • Oat flour

  • Oat meal

  • Oats, ground

  • Oats, heat processed flaked

  • Oat meal, feeding

  • Oat mill by-product

  • Oats, rolled

  • Oats, steam crimped

  • Oats, steam-rolled

  • Oats, whole

*Processed grain by-products*

Rice

  • Rice mill feed

  • Rice, brewers


Sorghum, ground

Spelt

Spelt bran

Wheat

  • Puffed wheat

  • Wheat

  • Wheat bran

  • Wheat fiber

  • Wheat flour

  • Wheat middlings

  • Wheat pellet

  • Wheat, expanded

  • Wheat, ground

  • Wheat, heat processed

  • Wheat, whole

  • Whole Wheat




*Processed grain by-products* = Per AAFCO definition, Roughage products may include one or more of the following:

  • 60.43 Aspirated Grain Fractions

  • 15.1 Brewers Dried Grains

  • 60.6 Buckwheat Middlings

  • 27.7 Condensed Distillers Solubles

  • 48.24 Condensed Fermented Corn Extractives

  • 48.2 Corn Bran

  • 48.8 Corn Flour

  • 48.22, 48.23 Corn Germ Meal

  • 48.13 Corn Gluten Feed

  • 48.14 Corn Gluten Meal

  • 48.7 Corn Grits

  • 27.5 ____ Distillers Dried Grains

  • 27.6 ____ Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles

  • 27.4 ____ Distillers Dried Solubles

  • 42.4 Grain Sorghum Germ Cake

  • 42.4 Grain Sorghum Germ Meal

  • 42.7 Grain Sorghum Grits

  • 42.10 Grain Sorghum Mill Feed

  • 48.16, 48.26 Hominy Feed

  • 15.2 Malt Sprouts

  • 69.1 Oat Groats

  • 69.3 Oat Meal, Feeding

  • 12.3 Pearl Barley By-Products

  • 71.21 Peanut Skins

  • 75.3, 75.7 Rice Bran

  • 75.1 Rice Polishing

  • 78.2 Rye Middlings

  • 42.8 Sorghum Grain Flour, Gelatinized

  • 42.9 Sorghum Grain Flour, Partially Aspirated

  • 93.1 Wheat Bran

  • 93.2 Wheat Flour

  • 93.6 Wheat Shorts

  • 93.3 Wheat Germ Meal

  • 93.8 Wheat Germ Meal, Defatted

  • 93.5 Wheat Middlings

  • 93.4 Wheat Mill Run

  • 93.7 Wheat Red Dog


Nutritional Content Comparison

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