Effects of High–oil Corn and Soybean Oil Additives

Aerial dust originating from feed is a major contributor to poor air quality in swine confinement buildings. Studies have shown that addition of fats and oils to swine feed reduces its dustiness. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of several high–oil corn (HOC) varieties on reducing aerodynamic dust segregation (ADS) as compared with conventional or normal corn (NC) as ground corn only and also as the base ingredient of typical feed rations. Comparisons were also made between HOC–based feed with NC–based feed with 0.5% to 2.0% soybean oil. Experiments were conducted using a laboratory apparatus designed to measure ADS based on both mass (ADSm) and number (ADSn). The ADSm was defined as the percentage of mass lost by entrainment into the air by dropping a sample through a vertical tube. The ADSn was defined as the particle number concentration in a 235–mL air sample drawn from the tube 100 s after dropping the ground corn or feed sample. One of the single–cross HOC varieties produced only 19% (P < 0.05) of the ADSn of a NC variety and only 27% to 28% of the TopCross HOC varieties. Feed with the single–cross HOC was significantly less dusty than NC–based feed. The ADSn of feed with HOC was not significantly different from that of feed with NC amended with soybean oil.