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Draft storyAt the distillery

The grain with another job

Leftover grain from the distillery gets checked for a new job as farm feed.

A draft: the words and pictures are waiting for an educator’s review.

Who’s in it

Meet everyone in Gullbrae

The story

In the distillery courtyard, Dougal holds up a small sealed jar of damp beige grain for Eddie and Fiona, with a picture of grain in a glass case behind them.

Dougal held up a sealed jar of damp grain. It was left over from work at the distillery, and he had a new job in mind for it.

Dougal: “The grain has done one job. Let’s see which useful job comes next.”

Eddie holds a picture of a closed kitchen caddy and looks at Dougal, who holds the sealed grain jar well away from it.

Eddie held up a picture of a kitchen caddy. “Is it just like the scraps from my kitchen?” he asked.

Dougal puts the sealed grain jar beside pictures of a closed farm feed store and a feed tub while Fiona points and Eddie listens.

Dougal set the jar beside pictures of a farm feed store and a feed tub. Fiona explained that experts check grain like this before it is used.

For grown-ups: A suitable distillery co-product that has been set aside goes through professional checks on suitability, storage and the overall diet before it can be used as one ingredient in livestock feed. Not every co-product is suitable, and this is not a whole diet, a home recipe or a guide to how long it keeps.

At a stone farm building, Fiona puts the sealed jar on a high shelf beside closed feed containers while Eddie watches from behind a low wooden gate.

At the farm, Fiona put the sample on a high shelf beside the closed feed tubs. Eddie watched from the gate.

Back at the distillery, Fiona slides one grain picture card into one wooden tray holding a picture of a farm feed store, while Dougal and Eddie watch.

Back at the distillery, Fiona slid the grain card into one tray with the feed store picture. This grain had one place to go.

For grown-ups: This card shows one example batch going to one destination, the feed store. Other examples in the story are different batches, not this one counted again for algae or heat.

Dougal holds the sealed grain jar near a feed store picture, Eddie holds his kitchen caddy picture on the other side, and Fiona stands between them explaining.

Fiona stood between the two pictures. The checked grain could go to the feed store, but kitchen scraps belonged in the food caddy.

Fiona: “Hamish gets the right feed, Eddie. A useful leftover still needs the right destination.”

For grown-ups: Household kitchen scraps are not livestock feed, even though some professional co-products can be. Hamish eats grass and suitable professionally managed feed, never household scraps. Save good food for people first, and use your council’s food caddy for scraps.

Draft, 20 October 2026. The words and pictures are not yet reviewed by an educator. The story follows the outline in our story guide.

The real-life bit

Distilleries produce co-products, and a Scottish Government report (2019) describes how suitable ones can be used for livestock feed or for energy. Not every co-product is suitable, and real use needs qualified checks. Household kitchen scraps are never livestock feed: save good food for people first, and follow your council’s own rules for food waste. Gullbrae is made up. Your council’s own rules are the ones to follow.

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