Cottonseed
Once a waste-disposal problem for gins, cottonseed is now a valuable by-product.

The seed goes to oil mills, where it is delinted of its linters in an operation similar to ginning.

The bare seed is then cracked and the kernel removed.
The meal that remains after the oil has been extracted is high in protein.

Linters are used for padding in furniture and cars, for absorbent cotton-wool swabs, and for manufacture of many cellulose products
 such as rayon, plastics, lacquers, and smokeless powder for shells and cartridges.

The hulls, or husks, are used as feed for cattle.

Kernels, or meats, provide cottonseed oil.

The cake and meal are used for feed and flour.

Foots, the sediment left by cottonseed oil refining, provides fatty acids for industrial products.

WHOLE COTTONSEED AND COTTON TEXTILE MILL WASTE IN SORGHUM SILAGE-BASED DIETS 

FOR DEVELOPING HEIFERS       http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/an_sci/ann_rep94/mhpoo46.html       M.H. Poore

Introduction

The acreage of cotton grown in North Carolina has increased in recent years, increasing the supply of whole cottonseed available to cattlemen.
In three of the last four years, whole cottonseed has been avail able at less than $100/ton FOB gins, which is well below the actual value of it's nutrients of about $140/ton. Cottonseed is also conveniently handled and requires no processing, making it a very desirable feed that has been rapidly adopted. Because most cow calf producers using whole cottonseed also want to feed it to their replacement heifers, and because of the growing stocker sector in the state, we have received many questions regarding the optimal use of whole cottonseed for growing cattle. Several previous studies conducted have suggested that cottonseed should be limited to less than 15% of diet dry matter, but additional information is needed to strengthen this recommendation.

Cotton textile mill waste is short fiber cotton resulting from the processing of raw cotton into yarn. This is another alternative feed available to North Carolina cattlemen that is available in some areas, but again, information on which to base feeding recommendations is limited. This trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of altering the level of whole cottonseed in sorghum silage-based diets with or without the cotton fiber added. This design allowed not only the evaluation of cottonseed level and cotton fiber, but also whether the type of fiber present in the diet would alter the influence of cottonseed.

Materials and Methods
Sixty M-1 Angus heifers purchased from North Carolina Graded Feeder Calf Sales were used in the 84-day trial. They were fed total mixed rations through Calan feeding gates at the Butner Beef Cattle Field Laboratory during the winter of 1992-1993. The diets contained on a dry matter basis either 67% sorghum silage and 33% concentrate or 47% sorghum silage, 20% cotton fiber, and 33% concentrate. Soybean meal, ground corn, and whole cottonseed were included in the concentrates such that each type of diet had either 0, 6, 12, 18 or 24% whole cottonseed , giving a total of 10 different diets and six heifers per individual diet. Diets were formulated to meet protein and mineral requirements, and were predicted to provide 2 lb/day gain.

Shrunk weights were obtained on the heifers at the beginning and at the end of the trial to determine gain. Initial weight of the heifers was 541 lb, and feed intake was monitored daily. Near the mid point of the trial, rumen samples were withdrawn by stomach tube 2 hours after the morning feeding to evaluate ruminal ammonia and VFA levels, and blood samples were obtained at the same time to evaluate blood urea nitrogen levels.

Results and Discussion
There were few interactions between whole cottonseed level and the addition of cotton fiber, so only main effects are reported here. The main effects of cottonseed level and cotton fiber on growth, intake, ruminal ammonia and blood urea nitrogen are shown in Table 1, while ruminal VFA level and proportions are shown in Table 2. Dry matter intake and average daily gain were not influenced, while feed efficiency was improved when 20% cotton fiber was substituted for sorghum silage. Blood urea nitrogen was decreased and ruminal ammonia was increased indicating that there was some effect of the cotton fiber on ruminal nitrogen metabolism. Ruminal VFA were also influenced by the cotton fiber in that total VFA was higher, and the proportion of propionate, isobutyrate, butyrate, and isovalerate were lower in diets with cotton fiber. This result indicates that while the textile mill waste may influence the ruminal environment, it has great potential as a feed, and appears to have a nutritional value similar to sorghum silage.

Increasing cottonseed level linearly decreased dry matter intake and average daily gain of the heifers with what appeared to be a break between the 12 and 18% levels. Feed efficiency was not effected by cottonseed level. At the highest level of whole cottonseed, heifers fell well short of the rate of gain needed to meet the target weight for breeding. The reason for this negative effect of cottonseed is not clear but could be due to several factors. The oil present in the cottonseed could have negative effects on ruminal function, but earlier studies have indicated that even the fat content of the 24% cottonseed diets should not have caused a problem. Another possibility is that the toxin gossypol present in cottonseed could have been involved. The cottonseed used contained 1.15% total gossypol, a substantially higher level than reported for cottonseed produced in other areas of the country. The level of gossypol consumed by the heifers in the 24% cottonseed diet (18.4 grams/head/day) was near the level known to cause some subclinical toxicity, but depressed feed intake and growth rate have not been reported at this level. Additional research is being conducted to understand the reason for this reduction in feed intake and growth rate. It is recommended that due to the importance of obtaining predictable perfor mance in developing heifers and stocker cattle, cotton seed should be limited to 15% of the diet, or about 2.5 lb/head/day.

Conclusions
Cotton textile mill waste substituted for sorghum silage had no negative effect on performance of these heifers, indicating that it has potential as a feed ingredient in this type of diet. Increasing whole cottonseed decreased gain in diets with or without cotton fiber. The break appeared to occur between 12 and 18% whole cottonseed, and this supports the recommendation of limiting whole cottonseed to 15% of the diet for growing cattle.
Application - Cotton Seed

Approximately 850,000 tons of cottonseed is produced annually in California. 
About 95% is fed to dairy cattle and the balance is crushed for the oil. 
Cottonseed when crushed produces many byproducts which are common in everyday use. 

Linters, which is the fuzz left on the seed after ginning, are used for such items as dynamite,  filler in gun powder, mops, cotton balls, automotive upholstery,
     fine writing paper and currency. 
Cellulose, which is the principal component of the cotton fiber, when extracted from the linters is used to make food casing,  paint, toothpaste,
     and plastics for windshields, toolhandles, x-ray film, just to name a few. 
Cottonseed hulls are mainly used for animal feed. 
Cottonseed Oil is used for cooking oil, salad dressing, cosmetics, soap, and as a carrier for agricultural sprays (no VOC).
The Cottonseed meal and cake is used for fertilizers and feed for cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, fish and shrimp. 
The average 725 lbs of seed realized from enough seed cotton to produce one 500# bale of cotton lint will produce enough oil to cook nearly 6,000 snack sized bags of potato chips.

Cottonseed is part of every Americans daily life. When you think of cotton, do you think of snack food ingredients, toothpaste, cattle feed, photo film, and other animal feeds?
Cotton probably makes you think more of clothing materials and other usable cloth items.
Textiles are only part of the cotton industry.
Actually the cotton plant produces more food for man and animals than it does fiber for clothing. All elements of the seeds including linters, kernels, and hulls are used in consumer products. Find books about agriculture at Amazon.com!
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The development of the cottonseed industry had its beginning with the invention of the cotton gin in 1793. The cotton gin made large supplies of cotton seed available.

One of the most common uses today for cottonseed is cottonseed oil and vegetable oil. Cottonseed oil is extracted from the cottonseed kernel. Cottonseed oil is used in food products like, candy, potatoes chips and crackers. Cottonseed oil is also a main ingredient in many marinades, dressings, margarines and prepared foods.

Cottonseed is also used as a supplement in cattle feeds as a high energy, high protein nutrient.

Linters are the short fibers that cling to the seed. The linters are used for items such as film, currency and cellulose used in foods like ice cream, syrup and gum.

Even the hulls surrounding the kernel are used for roughage in the diet of cattle and as an organic mulch for gardening.

The cotton plant produces twice as much seed as it does fiber. It contributes about 15% of the cotton farmers income.
The seed from one bale of cotton will produce enough oil to cook almost 6000 snack bags of potato chips.
Many products such as Crisco, Wesson Oil, Ivory Soap and others were originally developed using cottonseed oil.

Cottonseed oil contains no cholesterol and plays a large role in reducing fat intake.

The cottonseed oil mill industry is a 1.2 billion dollar industry and provides jobs throughout the U.S. 1.3 billion pounds of cottonseed oil are produced annually
making cottonseed oil the third leading oil in the U.S.

Cotton is grown over most of the southern U.S.

COTTONSEED MEAL

Description

Cottonseed meal is a high protein by-product from the extraction of oil from whole cottonseed.
There are two different processing methods used to extract the oil from the cottonseed, and they differ in the amount of oil (fat) they leave in the meal.
The amount of oil left in the meal affects its energy value.

Cottonseed meal is palatable and commonly is used in cattle rations in the southern and western U.S.
Solvent extracted cottonseed meal is the more common of the two types. 

Cottonseed meal contains gossypol. Under typical conditions, though, even high-producing cows will not consume enough cottonseed meal
to suffer from gossypoltoxicity.

Cottonseed meal is used as a protein supplement and can replace all of the soybean meal in the ration.

Typical Analysis Expeller process: Solvent process:
Dry matter 94 % 92 %
Crude Protein 41.0 % 41.5 %
Fat 04.5 % 01.5 %
Crude fiber 12.5 % 12.5 %
Neutral Detergent Fiber 26.3 % 23.9 %
Acid Detergent Fiber 18.8 % 17.5 %
Calcium 0.15 % 0.15 %
Phosphorus 1.10 % 1.10 %
TDN 72.0 % 70.0 %
Net energy—Lactation 76.3 Mcal/100 lbs 72.6 Mcal/100 lbs
Caution:  Any recommendations given here should be considered as general only and may not apply in your specific situation.
 All final recommendations should be made by a qualified person familiar with your particular circumstances.     ( Ref.  http://www.labudde.com/cottonmeal.htm )