Coors Sends Feed to Aid Storm-Stressed Cattle

Brewery company's donation is enough to feed 200,000 cattle for one day.

February 6, 2007
By Karen Vigil
The Pueblo Chieftain

Coors Brewing Co. on Monday announced it was making a donation of 1 million pounds of feed pellets, a high-protein byproduct of the beer brewing process, to help feed area cattle suffering from recent winter snowstorms.

Coors is contributing the pellets to Operation Blizzard Benefit, a relief effort being coordinated by the Colorado Cattlemen's Association.

The donation is enough to feed 200,000 head of cattle for one day. The feed is being distributed to farmers and ranchers so that it may be used over an extended period of time.

The first shipments of pellets, which are valued at $75,000, left the Coors Brewery in Golden on Monday, according to a Coors news release.

Terry Frankhauser, executive vice president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, said Monday that the initial bulk feed would be delivered by semi-trailer loads. More time will be taken to have most of the feed sacked up for easier delivery.

Frankhauser said questions about the feed distribution should be directed to area Colorado State University Cooperative Extension offices, which are co-directing the effort with an area cattle producer network.

Teague Diversified Inc., the animal-feed broker for Coors, helped coordinate the effort and contributed part of the transportation costs, according to Dennis Puffer, an official with Coors Brewing Co.

"At Coors, we have two long-standing commitments - to support our local communities and to recycle the rich by-products from our brewing process," Puffer said. "With today’s donation, we’re able to do both.”

Frankhauser thanked Coors for its donation as the recent weeks of snow-covered ground have prevented cattle from grazing in their natural habitat and hampered efforts to transport food to the ranches.

“Over the past month, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association has been working to help ranchers feed their cattle. We thank Coors for this generous donation which enables us to reach even more ranches and farms,” Frankhauser said.

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