An eastern Iowa feed company is recycling outdated beer by pouring it into its feed as a snack for the cattle.

The beer comes from local distributors and acts as a mineral-rich snack, said Jack Fisher, manager of Fisher’s Feed and Fertilizer in Norway, Iowa.

The process began about a year and a half ago, when Cedar Rapids beer distributor Fleck Sales Company asked Fisher’s Feed and Fertilizer to help recycle outdated beer, Fisher said.

“We looked up how to feed it and made sure it was safe for the cattle before we dove into the process,” Fisher said. “We found out it is almost impossible to give a cow too much beer.”

The beer Fisher uses is beer that has been pulled off the shelves because it has passed its freshness date, said Lyle Weeda, warehouse manager of Fleck Sales Company.

“It was actually a benefit to us for [Fisher] to pick it up and take it. It saves us the cost of having to pay to have it destroyed at the landfill,” Weeda said.

Most of the beer is 30 days or more past the retail shelf date before it reaches the cattle, Weeda said.

“I’m sure some of it is probably still good, but beer is like bread and potato chips — everyone wants fresh,” Weeda said.

The feed company picks up pallets of old beer from Fleck Sales Company and empties the cans and bottles by hand into five-gallon buckets, Fisher said. The buckets of beer are then given away to cattle feeders. A local high school organization receives the empty cans, and the Ronald McDonald house receives the tabs.

“We’re just using the beer as kind of a smattering or snack for the cattle. We don’t have a lot of people feeding it because we don’t have a big supply of it, but they’ve had pretty good luck with it,” Fisher said.

The cattle’s nervous systems could be affected like those of humans if the cattle were overfed, said Allen Trenkle, distinguished professor of animal science.

“If you think in terms of humans weighing about 150 pounds, one can of beer doesn’t really affect most people. An 800-pound steer could probably consume at least eight or 10 cans of beer and not be affected,” Trenkle said.

The beer adds some energy to the cattle diet, but most cattle feeders would not depend upon it as a significant source of minerals, Trenkle said.

“This is just basically an additive. We’re not really promoting it as a cure for something or a special weight-gain thing,” Fisher said. “Basically, it’s just a good way to get rid of the old product and kind of a fun way for us to talk with some of our feed customers.”

Robert Miller of Norway said he feeds about 40 cattle five gallons of beer twice a day during the summer.

“They just loved it. The cattle would wait till we poured that on their feed, and then they’d lick their tongues right in it,” Miller said. “I guess it’s like ice cream on your cake or something.”

The beer is not as easy to use in the winter without a heated building, but it works well for the summer, Miller said.

“It’s kind of a little chore to put that on, but we didn’t mind it because we were benefiting a lot of things. It’s worked out well,” Miller said.