1551 Effects of sulfur on the nutrition value of dried distillers' grains with solubles for beef cattle

Hünerberg, M., McGinn, S. M., Beauchemin, K. A., Okine, E. K., Harstad, O. M. and McAllister, T. A. 2013. Effect of dried distillers’ grains with solubles on enteric methane emissions and nitrogen excretion from finishing beef cattle. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 93: 373–385. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of corn- or wheat-based dried distillers’ grains with solubles (CDDGS, WDDGS) on enteric methane (CH4) emissions from finishing beef cattle, and to determine if any observed reductions were a result of the fat content of CDDGS. A second objective was to compare the effect of CDDGS or WDDGS on N excretion. The experiment was designed as replicated 4×4 Latin square with 28-d periods using 16 ruminally fistulated crossbred heifers. The control diet contained 87% barley grain, 8% barley silage and 5% supplement (dry matter; DM basis). Treatment diets were formulated by replacing 40% DM of barley grain with CDDGS, WDDGS, or corn oil supplemented WDDGS (WDDGS+oil). For the WDDGS+oil diet 6.5% corn oil was added to WDDGS (3.4% fat DM) to achieve a similar fat level as in CDDGS (9.7% DM). All diets were fed as total mixed rations once daily ad libitum. Total collection of urine and faeces was conducted between days 18 and 21. Methane was measured between days 25 and 28 using four identical open circuit respiratory chambers. Compared with WDDGS, feeding CDDGS and WDDGS+oil reduced (P<0.05) CH4emissions as a percentage of gross energy intake (GEI) from 5.5 to 4.0 and 4.2%, respectively. Feeding CDDGS also reduced (P<0.05) CH4emissions compared with the control (5.0% of GEI), while WDDGS+oil tended (P=0.08) to elicit a similar response. Methane (% of GEI) between WDDGS and the control did not differ (P=0.29). Excretion of total N was greater (P<0.001) for CDDGS, WDDGS and WDDGS+oil (220, 253, and 265 g d−1) compared with the control (143 g d−1). Although oil appears to be responsible for reducing CH4emissions when DDGS is included in the diet, increased N excretion requires that a complete life cycle assessment be conducted to assess the full impact of DDGS on greenhouse gas emissions from finishing cattle.

Download Full-text

Effect of Propionibacterium acidipropionici P169 on growth performance and rumen metabolism of beef cattle fed a corn- and corn dried distillers’ grains with solubles-based finishing diet

Canadian Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.4141/cjas2013-130 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 94 (2) ◽

pp. 363-369 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

N. Narvaez ◽

A. Y. Alazzeh ◽

Y. Wang ◽

T. A. McAllister

Keyword(s):

Beef Cattle ◽

Growth Performance ◽

Feed Efficiency ◽

Distillers Grains ◽

Propionibacterium Acidipropionici ◽

Distillers Grains With Solubles ◽

Dried Distillers Grains ◽

Ruminal Ph ◽

Ruminal Acidosis ◽

Rumen Metabolism

Narvaez, N., Alazzeh, A. Y., Wang, Y. and McAllister, T. A. 2014. Effect of Propionibacterium acidipropionici P169 on growth performance and rumen metabolism of beef cattle fed a corn- and corn dried distillers’ grains with solubles-based finishing diet. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 363–369. A growth and metabolism experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of Propionibacterium acidipropionici P169 on feedlot steers fed a corn- and corn dried distillers' grains with soluble (DDGS)-based finishing diet. Steers (40 non-cannulated and 8 ruminally cannulated) were divided into two groups and administered 10 g head−1 d−1 of maltodextrin containing 1×1011 colony-forming units (CFU) of P169 or the same amount of carrier (Control), top-dressed once daily upon feeding. Feed intake, growth rate and feed efficiency were determined over 115 d. For cannulated steers, ruminal pH was monitored continuously for 5 d during the second week of each month over the entire feeding period with rumen samples collected 3 h after feeding on days 1 and 5. Molar proportions of butyrate, branched-chain volatile fatty acids (VFA) and NH3-N concentration increased (P<0.01) with P169, whereas total VFA, molar proportions of propionate, the acetate:propionate ratio, and lactate concentration did not differ (P>0.05) between treatments. P169 had a limited effect on ruminal pH as duration and area under the curve both at pH 5.5 and 5.2 as well as frequency of acute ruminal acidosis bouts were similar (P>0.05) for both groups. Compared with control steers, steers fed P169 had more (P<0.05) bouts of subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA). All steers had similar (P>0.05) feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics, except for longissiumus muscle area, being less (P<0.05) for P169 steers than controls. Supplementing P169 to beef cattle fed a corn- and corn DDGS-based finishing diet had no effect on growth performance of beef cattle or ruminal pH and increased the bouts of SARA.

Download Full-text