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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1976)
Page 10B THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 25, 1976 Color hides good nutrition and good flavor Sunflower seed may become major protein sourf Cattle are now eating protein that could assuage the hunger of chil dren starving in Pakistan, or if that s too far away to affect one s sen sitivities, think about Mexico — or Texas. They’re eating the high protein products of sunflowers seeds which, because of husking problems and tendency to turn green or black when cooked, aren’t considered useful for human consumption. Two Texas A&M University sci entists, Drs. Peter J. Wan and Karl F. Mattil, are the principal inves tigators on a project to remedy the homely sunflower’s shortcomings. The duo works through the Food Protein Research Center for A&M s Texas Engineering Experiment Sta tion. The program is funded by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Serv ice. “The sunflower seed is about 25 per cent protein, and the meal pro- duced can be 50-60 per cent pro tein,” Dr. Wan pointed out. “Good protein with a good flavor. “However,” added Mattil, in processing the meal for foods, we often use alkaline reagents like bak ing soda. When you use it on sunflowers yon had better be Irish because it’s going to be green. “People like clean colors in their food,” he continued. “They want their bread and potatoes white, a desire that becomes even stronger among the poor who would be the main beneficiaries of a low-cost pro tein. In many foods this coloration just would not be satisfactory. The culprit in this coloration is chlorogenic acid which is found in a lot of plant material and has no re ported adverse biological proper ties. It is present in large quantities in sunflower seeds. “The meal is currently used only for cattle feed and sold at the lowest conceivable value, said Mattil. It could be worth twice or three times as much if it were used for human consumption.” “An increase in value that great could put the sunflower seed into commercial competition and will make it a much more valuable crop to Texas farmers,” said Dr. Wan. “Right now though, the sunflower seed cannot stand on the value of its oil alone.” “The vegetable oil market has been like a roller coaster for the past two years,” he said. “We know the oil is very good but its price will be depresssed by the world production of palm oil, which is reaching its peak, and the increased production of soybeans in Brazil. This has se verely demoralized the vegetable oil market in the U.S. “The result is we must demon strate a higher value for protein from the sunflower seed and get it into the food chain,” Wan said. “This will increase real value and food value.” “Eventually, the world will find a place for all this oil but in the mean time a lot of people will suffer and it is usually the small one-crop farm er,” Mattil said. “They’re now ask ing if they can afford to grow sunflower seeds profitably. The an swer is yes, if we can increase the protein, and no if not.” “We re already ten years behind in development,” he said. “You need to start research a decade be fore the demand is felt. We have people who are hungry in Texas right now. Protein foods are expen sive, and we can’t wait until later to develop this resource.” “Look at the price of meat, cheese and milk,” said Wan. “Poor and retired people are losing out on protein, so someone has to develop low-cost protein.” “Peter will find out how the chlorogenic acid is bound to the meal,” Mattil attested. “V have guidelines for a comtjL. pilot plant operation wiijr years. It will require in n " 1 hunch and luck. Sometimes is most important. It won'tB 11! but it will be a challenge.” I Dr. Peter Wan is als 0i principal researcher ofasisk ect to remove the fiber offcj during commercial produeti# and meal from sunflower see 1 Livestock production efficient agriculture ions X Despite the claim by elitists that U.S. agriculture wastes grain through excessive meat production, the nation’s agricultural production, research and marketing can be proud of its accomplishments, a prominent cattle feeder said here last week. Kenneth R. Monfort, board chairman of Monfort of Colorado, Inc., said there is no reason for shame that U.S. farmers and ranch ers have produced so much food and fiber at reasonable cost to consum ers, and with such a small percent age of the overall population in volved. Monfort told about 1,800 mem bers of the American Society of Animal Science 68th annual meet ing (Aug. 16-18) at Texas A&M Uni versity that there are those who want Americans to feel ashamed for eating so well. The reason the citizens eat well, he said, is because farmers and ranchers produce meat protein, as well as food grains, and they do it through efficiency, hard work and the research tools gleaned from col leges and universities. “Animal agriculture has been par ticularly condemned by many of the elitists throughout our nation. Monfort said. “They decry what they believe to be the inefficiency of producing protein with livestock and poultry. They state flatly that we should not use our grain supplies to produce meat.” The speaker said these same elitists usually ignore the fact that much of the nation’s agricultural acreage has one best use — the production of livestock. “They ignore the fact that our greatest crop of all, corn — yellow corn — is primarily a feed grain and will in the foreseeable future con tinue to be used in production of meat whether we use it at home or whether it is exported,” he said. Monfort then listed many of the research accomplishments by such agencies as the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. The advances are now standard practice in most cases. But he told researchers in the ASAS meeting that “your job has just begun. We need so much more.” He said a cow still has only one calf a year. It still takes about eight pounds of feed for a pound of liveweight gain in the feedlot, and 20 pounds of feed for a pound of edible beef. Too often, undesirable meat is graded U.S. Choia desirable meat is not graded Monfort put the ASASi on the spot by listing wl)atlie| “wild” research goals whentl celebrates it tri-centennial. He said he would liketosj per cent calf crop, 1,2 steers at 12 months of age a only the last 260 pounds[ the feedlot; a conversioii pounds of feed to a poundd almost no fat on the carol universally desired tendemj flavor that add up to meato Livestock fed recycled manure; cattlemen say utilizing protein is good business Two cattlemen in the southeast ern United States are making effi cient use of animal wastes by recy cling them in a practical feeding program. Russell May of Timberville, Va., and Sam D. Hay, Jr., of Covington, Ga., talked about their operations at the annual meeting of the American Society of Animal Science at Texas A&M University Aug. 15-18. May, who runs an Angus herd along with swine, poultry and ISTOVJCH sheep, discussed the use of poultry litter in rations for his beef herd, brought on mainly by the need for a more efficient type of feed. He initi ated litter feeding in the 1960’s under the pressure of drought con ditions, and has since expanded his operation. Early rations consisted of one pound of corn meal and three pounds of litter, supplemented with hay during the winter months. Now May mixes corn silage along with the litter, with his cow herd receiv- MACHINES □ DQB □ □□El SALES - SERVICE • RENTALS VICTOR & CASIO PRINTING CALCULATORS SMITH CORONA & ROYAL TYPEWRITERS SCM, ROYAL & IBM RENTALS -A "A ■£’ HAMBURGERS HOT DOGS FRENCH FRIES ONION RINGS BASKETS: SHRIMP & CHICKEN SANDWICHES SHAKES ICE CREAM COKES DINING ROOM ★ DRIVE-THRU WINDOW ★ ORDERS TO GO ON UNIVERSITY DRIVE ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE DORMS * 846-7466 ing a ration of 25 per cent litter and 75 per cent silage. The key to using litter is its palatability to cattle, said May. He piles up the litter from his poultry operation for four to six weeks to allow it to go through a heating period before using it in a feeding ration. Hay, whose main business is a backgrounding and cattle finishing operation, recycles manure by using a ration consisting of 45 per cent corn, 15 per cent corn silage and 40 per cent manure. “By utilizing the protein in ani mal waste products along with silage and grass, we feel we can compete and stay in business,” said Hay. The cattleman said that he buys corn for his feeding ration but grows the corn silage. These two ingre dients are mixed with the manure and put into a silo for 10 to 14 days before feeding it to cattle. “Using the above ration, we have realized an average daily gain of 2.65 pounds per animal in our finishing operation,” noted Hay. He also feeds manure to cattle being backgrounded on pasture and relies heavily on ryegrass and yucchi clover for grazing from October through May. Another speaker. Dr. Arnold Peterson of Elburn, Ill., discussed a $1.5 million plant at Summerfield near Hereford in the Texas Panhan dle where manure from cattle feed- lots is being processed for use in finishing rations as well as for fer tilizer for the home garden market. The product has an analysis fo 2 per cent nitrogen, 1 per cent phos phorus and 2 per cent potash. Peterson said that at a feedlot near Hereford, a ration containing 30 per cent manure and 70 per cent corn silage is being utilized. He contends that 30 to 40 per cent ma nure in a ration is probably the upper limit. The processed manure has a crude protein of 12.5 per cent. “Manure is valuable as both a feed and fertilizer,” said Peterson. “It is generally valued at about $5 million annually across the nation. 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