STRATFORD -- Corn prices have soared to a historical high, thanks to the ethanol rush. Alfalfa prices, too, are pushed up because of last year's drought. Topping off a bleak economic picture is the ever-rising gas prices which drive up the cost of everything in the market.

Struggling to pay for traditional feed, more farmers today are looking for cheaper alternatives in people food.

That's where Dwight Weigand comes in.

To survive in today's pressusre-cooker economy, Weigand, a Fresno farmer who runs a cattle feed business in Bakersfield, has been processing rejected food items -- mainly scraps of squiggly instant noodles -- to help stretch his budget for feeding his animals.

On the side, he sells his product to fellow cattle ranchers and dairy farmers to recover some costs as well.

"The biggest motivation for people feeding cattle today, whether it be beef cattle or dairy cattle, is the extremely high prices of corn," said Weigand.

Corn has traditionally made up a majority of the diet of livestock, along with soybean meal and alfalfa. Corn is rich in energy and protein and other nutrients that fatten up the animals.

But growing demand for corn-based ethanol, a biofuel that has surged in popularity over the past year, has kept the prices of a bushel of corn at above $5.50 -- more than double the price of three years ago. Alfalfa prices have gone up by about $100 a ton over the past year.

For every pound a cattle gains, it now costs a farmer more than $1, up from about 80 cents last year, Weigand said.

"We are trying to find something that might help cheapen your cost of feed a little bit," Weigand said.

Some pigs and cattle in the East are downing trail mix, uncooked french fries, cookies and cereal. California farmers are feeding farm animals orange pulp, rejected peaches and bread.

In the case of Weigand, he sticks to rejected and expired ramen noodles and potato chips.

This year Weigand will relocate his cattle feed recycle business -- which he currently operates in Strathmore -- to Kings County, where demands for cattle and dairy feed are great. This week, he was given a permit from county planners to convert an old cotton gin in Stratford, at Lincoln and 20 1/2 avenues.

Weigand, a feed lot operator, sometimes acts as a so-called "jobber," who serves as a middleman buying food that manufacturers would otherwise throw away, process it and sell it to livestock operations.

Things like this isn't new in the industry, said Supervisor Joe Neves, who welcomed Weigand's operation.

"It's been going on for a long time, especially in larger communities," said Neves, who is knowledgeable in agricultural affairs. "Noodles are basically durum wheat. People are also using pastries, bread, pies and cup cakes -- all kinds of food to supplement their feed at lower costs. Even if it's expired, it still has much of the nutritional value."

Joe Neves sees the project as a plus to the farming community in Kings County.

"It's good to have a home for this product right here, as we have more and more livestock operations," Neves said.

Weigand says it will probably take him 60 days to get his Stratford food recycling operation going.

County principal planner Chuck Kinney said Weigand's facility, although approved, still must pass a compliance inspection before being able to start processing up to 150 tons of ramen noodles and potato chips a year in a large trommel screen. Each week, up to six truckloads of dry food will arrive at the facility each week, and three to four truckloads of by-products leave the site, according to the county.

"It just has to be run cleanly," Neves said. "Sometimes recyclers have a bad reputation of being not too friendly to the neighbors. This one will have a little more oversight to ensure they won't violate the conditional use permit conditions."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2429.

(March 8, 2007)