Univ. of Nebraska workers compared various corn processing methods with or without wet corn gluten feed (WCGF) in a two-trial finishing study. Corn processing methods consisted of whole, dry-rolled, finely-rolled, finely-ground, high-moisture, and steam-flaked corn. WCGF was fed at the rates of 32 and 22% of dry matter in Trials 1 and 2, respectively.

In Trial 1, steers on treatments that included WCGF gained similarly, regardless of corn processing method, and at a rate 6% faster than steers fed diets without WCGF. Steers fed steam-flaked corn alone or steam-flaked plus WCGF were more efficient than steers fed dry-rolled corn or finely-ground corn plus WCGF, but did not differ in efficiency from other treatments.

In Trial 2, steers fed steam-flaked corn plus WCGF gained 8% faster and those fed dry-rolled corn gained 9.5% slower than steers in all other treatments. Other treatment groups did not differ in daily gain. Steers fed steam-flaked corn or steam-flaked plus WCGF were 10% more efficient than all other treatments.

Estimates for the NEg of WCGF showed that it contained approximately 25% more energy than when fed with dry-rolled corn. The authors concluded that the results of this study indicate that feeding steam-flaked corn improves feed efficiency with or without WCGF compared with feeding dry-rolled corn. In general, more intensive processing of corn improves efficiency in diets containing WCGF (Scott et al. 2003. J. Anim. Sci. 81:3182).