Turn Stored Grain into Higher-Value Feed with Alkagrain

Your grain is already in store. Could it be worth more in the ration?

With feed costs continuing to put pressure on livestock margins, making better use of what is already available on farm makes commercial sense.

For farms with wheat, barley or other suitable mature cereals in store, Alkagrain provides an opportunity to turn that existing grain into an alkaline, protein-enhanced feed, without waiting for the next harvest. Home n’ Dry can be used to produce Alkagrain at harvest or throughout the year, giving farmers considerably more flexibility over when their grain is treated.

The principle is simple: take a cereal you already have and increase its feeding value while creating a feed that is better suited to the rumen.

What happens when stored grain is treated with Home n’ Dry?

Home n’ Dry is used to alkalise mature cereal grain. When the pellets encounter moisture, ammonia is released, raising the pH while preserving the crop, enhancing its protein content and producing a more rumen-friendly feed.

Once treated and correctly sheeted, the reaction takes place over approximately 14 days, after which the grain is stabilised and ready to use.

This means cereals that may otherwise simply provide starch within the ration can become a more nutritionally valuable feed ingredient.

Add around 4% additional protein to your grain

One of Alkagrain’s biggest commercial advantages is its ability to enhance the crude protein value of the cereal.

For example, wheat treated to produce Alkagrain typically analyses at around 16% crude protein*, an uplift of around four percentage points.

That means the process effectively combines starch and enhanced protein in the same home-produced feed material. Alkagrain is positioned as a cost-effective source of starch and protein together, with the potential to simplify ration formulation and reduce the requirement for multiple feed ingredients.

*Based on untreated protein value of 12%

At a time when every purchased tonne needs to justify its place in the ration, there is a clear question to ask:

Could the cereal already sitting in your store replace some of the protein and energy you would otherwise have to buy?

That calculation will differ from farm to farm, but it is precisely why evaluating stored cereals as more than simply a source of grain can be worthwhile.

Alkalisation: supporting the cow as well as the ration

There is more to Alkagrain than protein.

High-starch feeding brings an inherent challenge for the rumen. Rapidly fermentable feeds can increase acid production and, when this overwhelms the rumen’s natural buffering capacity, contribute to sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA). NADIS** highlights poorer dry matter intake and reduced fibre digestion amongst the consequences associated with SARA.

Alkagrain approaches cereal feeding differently. By creating an alkaline feed, Home n’ Dry helps to buffer rumen acidity, support more consistent intakes and provide a more favourable environment for fibre-digesting microbes.

For dairy cows in particular, maintaining rumen stability matters to consistent intake, milk production, milk solids, fertility and body condition. A more stable rumen pH and improved feed efficiency are amongst the benefits observed with alkaline concentrates and home-treated grains.

So, rather than simply asking “How much cereal can we feed?”, alkalisation encourages a better question:

“How can we make better use of cereal while supporting the rumen environment?”

** Part 2 – Sub Acute Ruminal Acidosis (SARA) | NADIS

Turn the grain in your store into Alkagrain in four simple steps

Production is deliberately straightforward:

1. Mix Home n’ Dry pellets with ripe, fully mature cereal grain.
2. Sheet the treated grain.
3. Leave it under the sheet for 14 days.
4. Feed.

For Alkagrain production, Home n’ Dry should be evenly distributed through the grain. Application methods can include spreaders, loader buckets and mixer wagons, depending on the farm setup.

The grain can be milled or rolled before or during treatment, or alternatively processed after treatment before feeding.

This flexibility makes the system particularly relevant to stored cereals. You do not need to have made the decision at harvest. Alkagrain can be produced throughout the year, and whole grain can be treated first and processed later.

For successful storage, the treated crop requires a clean, dry store, with plastic covering the sides and top, and should remain sheeted for a minimum of two weeks.

Why treat grain rather than simply feed it?

Commercially, Alkagrain brings several benefits together.
More value from each tonne
Rather than viewing stored cereal purely as an energy source, alkalisation adds protein value while retaining its role as a high-starch feed. Typical Alkagrain wheat analysis used within Home n’ Dry technical material is 68% starch, 16% protein, 13.5 ME and pH 8.5 on a DM basis.
Potential to reduce dependence on purchased protein
Enhancing the cereal’s crude protein level by around four percentage points creates more protein from the grain already available on farm, potentially reducing reliance on purchased protein sources depending on the overall ration.
No grain drying requirement
The Alkagrain process eliminates the requirement to dry the grain as part of this treatment system, removing a potentially significant post-harvest cost.
Greater feed self-sufficiency
Using more cereal already grown or stored on farm can reduce reliance on externally purchased feeds and improve utilisation of home-grown resources.
A more rumen-friendly way to utilise starch
The alkaline nature of Alkagrain helps buffer rumen pH and supports greater use of cereals within ruminant diets.
Flexibility throughout the year
Perhaps most importantly for farms with grain already in store, treatment is not restricted to harvest. Alkagrain can be made throughout the year, and the grain can be treated whole before being processed nearer to feed-out.

Before you buy more feed, look in your grain store…

The commercial opportunity behind Alkagrain is straightforward.

You have already invested in growing, harvesting or purchasing the cereal. The next question is how much nutritional and financial value you can get back out of it.

By treating stored cereals with Home n’ Dry, farmers can produce a stable, alkaline, protein-enhanced feed, combining valuable starch with additional protein while supporting a more efficient rumen environment.

For some farms, that could mean less reliance on purchased protein. For others, it could enable greater utilisation of home-grown cereal, improve ration efficiency or simply create more flexibility around feed purchasing.

The important thing is to put the numbers against your grain, your ration and your system.

Could your stored cereals be working harder?

If you have wheat, barley or other suitable mature cereals in store, talk to the Home n’ Dry team about turning them into Alkagrain and finding out how alkalised feeding could fit into your ration.

Your grain. More protein. More feeding value. More opportunity from what you’ve already got.

Find out more about Alkagrain and Home n’ Dry by:

Calling the Alka-line: +44(0)1200 613118

or email info@homendry.com

Learn more: www.homendry.com