Grain crimping or moist grain crimping is an
agricultural
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
technology, an
organic
Organic may refer to:
* Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity
* Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ
Chemistry
* Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
way to
preserve feed
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
into livestock
fodder
Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...
by
fermentation
Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...
.
Crimped grain brings health benefits to the animals and economic benefits such as cost savings and increased
meat
Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...
or
milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
production to the farmer.
History
Crimping was developed in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
in the late 1960s by two farmer brothers, Aimo and Gunnar Korte, based on findings of British researchers as early as 1918. The brothers made the first crimper machine for home farm use. As knowledge of the device became widespread, they established a company to manufacture and sell the machines.
British researchers had established that grain attains its peak nutritional value when the moisture content is between 35% and 45%. It took about 50 years before this knowledge was successfully utilized to process and preserve grain when moist.
Description
Traditionally grain is only harvested when it is dry enough to be ground by a
hammer mill
A hammer mill, hammer forge or hammer works was a workshop in the pre-industrial era that was typically used to manufacture semi-finished, wrought iron products or, sometimes, finished agricultural or mining tools, or military weapons. The featur ...
. Moist grain cannot be ground or stored without machine drying and using
preservative
A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or ...
s, which increases cost.
In crimping, the grain is combined moist and run through the crimper machine, which will break and flatten the grains. Additives, such as preservatives or
molasses
Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...
and water (if necessary) can be added to ensure the protection of nutrients.
Crimped grain is stored in
storage silo
A silo () is a structure for storing Bulk material handling, bulk materials.
Silos are commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use toda ...
s as a
silage
Silage is fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation (food), fermentation to the point of souring. It is fed to cattle, sheep and other ruminants. The fermentation and storage process is called ''ensilage'', ' ...
.
Crimped grain is dustless, thus convenient to handle, does not require further processing, and is often preferred by animals over drier and dustier feeds.
Practical experiments by farming and livestock research institutions in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
,
UK and elsewhere have confirmed that crimped feed has higher nutritional value, it increases the animals' growth and milk production, improves milk quality and the animals' health and helps cut costs.
An important point is that crimping home-grown grain and processing the feed on the spot at the farm, enables feed ingredients to be controlled and fully traceable. This helps in prevention of diseases, such as
BSE.
See also
*
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...
*
Dairy farming
Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...
*
Harvest
Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
References
*Pohjanheimo & Ettala (1971). "Tuoreena säilötty ohra lypsylehmien rehuna" (in Finnish; 'Freshly ensilaged barley as feed for dairy cows'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, Koetoiminta ja Käytäntö Bulletin No.5: p. 17-20.
*Rissanen & Ettala (1977). "Säilöviljan käyttö rehuna" (in Finnish;'Using silage stored grain as livestock feed'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, Koetoiminta ja Käytäntö Bulletin 29 Nov 1977: p. 41-44.
*Virtanen (1982). "Viljan murskesäilöntä" (in Finnish;'Crimping feed grains'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, Koetoiminta ja Käytäntö Bulletin 24 Aug 1982, p. 42.
*Siljander et al. (2000). "Effective on-farm use of grain" (English abstract, article in Finnish), Article in MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research publication, series A, No. 79, 2002. Salo R (editor), p. 68-75.
*Jaakkola et al. (2001). "Murskeviljan käyttö lypsylehmien ruokinnassa" (in Finnish;'Using crimped grain in feeding dairy cows'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research.
*Palva, R (2002). "Rehuviljan murskesäilöntä – työmenekki ja kustannukset" (in Finnish;'Crimping and ensiling feed grain - labour and costs'), TTS Work Efficiency Institute, Bulletin No 543/2002.
*Jaakkola (editor) (2003). "Murskesäilönnän vaikutus rehuviljan satoon, tappioihin ja tuotantovaikutukseen lypsylehmien ruokinnassa" (in Finnish;'The effect of crimping on the grain yield, on losses and on production input in feeding dairy cows'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, 41 p.
*Venäläinen et al. (2005). "Broilereillekin maistuu murskesäilötty ohra" (in Finnish;'Feeding chickens with crimped grain'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, Koetoiminta ja Käytäntö Bulletin No.3(17 Oct 2005), p. 15.
*Jaakkola (2005). "Herneen murskesäilöntä ja käyttö märehtijöiden ruokinnassa: tutkimusyhteistyöhanke v. 2002-2004" (in Finnish;'Crimping peas for feeding bovines: a joint research project 2002/2004'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research; Kemira Plc, Aimo Kortteen Konepaja Oy, 29 p.
*Jaakkola (2005). "Tuoresäilötyn viljan ruokinnallinen arvo naudoilla" (in Finnish;'The nutritional value of freshly crimped grain on bovines'), Article in ProAgria Association of Rural Advisory Centres' publication 2005, Series: Tieto tuottamaan, no. 108, p. 59-61. {{ISBN, 951-808-123-9
*Jaakkola et al. (2005). "Ensiled high moisture barley or dry barley in the grass silage-based diet of dairy cows" Edited by: R.S. Park, M.D. Stronge. Silage production and utilisation : proceedings of the XIVth international silage conference, a satellite workshop of the XXth international grassland congress, July 2005, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Wageningen Academic Publishers. p. 184.
*Jaakkola et al. (2006). "Murskesäilötyn herne-kauraseoksen säilöntälaatu" (in Finnish;'Silage quality of crimped mixture of peas and oats'), The Scientific Agricultural Society of Finland, Bulletin No.21, p. 7.
*Siljander-Rasi (2007). "Rehuarvo sama kuin kuivatun viljan: tuoresäilöttyä viljaa sioille" (in Finnish;'Feed value equal to dried grain: crimped grain for pigs'), Sika Bulletin No.37, 3: 38-39.
External links
Aimo Kortteen Konepaja Oythe pioneering company that introduced the method and has been developing the necessary machines
A UK company's guide to crimpinga
Kelvincave.com
Dairy farming technology
Grain production