Stinking to To High Heaven

Ethanol distillers sell the byproducts of the fermenting process as a livestock food mash. Since the distillation process removes much of the starch and sugars (which get converted to energy), the so-called distiller's dried grains with solubles can never take the place of a natural livestock diet.

The mash apparently does contain a large fraction of protein.

Because of the near complete fermentation of starch, the remaining amino acids, fat, minerals and vitamins increase approximately three-fold in concentration compared to levels found in corn. Despite the significant increase in crude protein, the poor amino acid balance of DDGS must be addressed when formulating swine and poultry diets.

Putting two and two together, I can imagine how the decomposing protein mash contributes to excess and particularly odorific flatulence production emanating from the livestock. A little-know trade-off for people that live next to turkey and swine farmers that do the mash.

And as we switch to higher ethanol production in the years to come, things will perhaps just get a general bit smellier.