US - There’s a big difference between coarse grind and fine grind, and it’s not just in our morning coffee. When it comes to grinding grain for livestock feed, especially swine, digestibility and efficiency are influenced by how large the grain particles are. Typically, the finer the grind the better —up to a point.New research by Kansas State University shows commercial laboratories and livestock producers who run their own analyses on grain-particle size can reduce the time it takes to check a sample from 15 minutes down to 10 minutes and get the same result by making a couple of changes to the process.“Grain accounts for a major component and cost in livestock diets,” said Charles Stark, associate professor in K-State’s Department of Grain Science and Industry. The particle size of ground grain influences feed digestibility, feed efficiency, how well it mixes and how well it can be pelleted, so periodic particle-size evaluation is a necessary part of quality feed manufacturing.

　　粗磨與細磨之間有著天壤之別，而且這種不同不僅僅局限于我們的早間咖啡。當談到牲畜飼料的谷物研磨時，特別是生豬，它的消化率與收益率正被谷物尺寸的大小所影響。通常，谷物研磨越細越好-在一定程度上。根據美國堪薩斯州立大學進行的一項新研究顯示，商業實驗室和畜牧養殖者在對谷物顆粒進行分析時是能夠縮短樣品檢查時間的，不論在此過程中做任何改變，都不會影響到最終結果，并將15分鐘縮減至10分鐘。堪薩斯州立大學谷物科學與工業系的助理教授Charles Stark說：“谷物是牲畜飲食中飼料成本和成分的主要組成部分。農作物的顆粒尺寸影響著飼料消化率、飼料轉化效率和谷物的混合以及壓制效果，所以定期評估顆粒尺寸對飼料生產質量是必需的。”