Use of feed made from a mixture of cereals and legumes by fresh cows

The ratios of pea and barley seeds for growing in mixed crops for the purpose of preparing juicy feed and obtaining grain fodder in the conditions of low-lying peatlands of the North-East of the Non-Chernozem zone of Russia are determined. Heat treatment of grain fodder from peas and barley in a ratio of 50:50 at a coolant temperature of 1100 C a duration of 30 minutes, as well as preservation of silage with LMAC (low molecular acid concentrate) reduced the solubility and cleavability of raw protein in the rumen, contributed to an increase in the use of nitrogen and energy for productive purposes when feeding lactating cows. Feeding of pea and barley silage processed with LMAC in the ratio (25:75) and processed grain mixture (50:50) as part of the main feeding diet of new – bodied cows increased the use of nitrogen taken – by 5.29%, digested-by 8.27 %. During the experiment period, the average daily milk yield of natural milk in the control group averaged 21.18 kg, in II-23.06 and in III – 25.49 kg. The difference in favor of the experimental group III was 4.31 kg (p < 0.05), and in II – 1.88 kg (p < 0.05) or 11.89 and 3.29%, respectively, in terms of 4% milk, the difference was 5.06 and 2.19 kg or 25.08 and 10.86 %. At the same time, the costs of exchange energy for obtaining 1 kg of milk with 4% fat content decreased by 10%, raw protein by more than 7 %.

PSXIV-14 Supplementation of high-grain diet with red osier dogwood affects in vitro digestibility and fermentation characteristics

Red osier dogwood (ROD) is a native shrub plant rich in phenolic compounds with antimicrobial properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of substituting barley silage with either raw ROD or ROD extract (RODE) in high-grain (HG) diet under a low media pH (5.8) on gas production (GP), dry matter (DM) disappearance (DMD) and fermentation characteristics in batch cultures. The study was a completely randomized design with 4 treatments: 1) control diet (10% barley silage and 90% barley concentrate, DM basis), control diet supplemented with 2) monensin (30 mg/kg diet DM; positive control), 3) substitution of 3% ROD or 4) 3% RODE for an equal portion of silage. Inoculum was obtained from 2 ruminally fistulated beef heifers offered the HG diet. Substrate ground (1 mm) was incubated for 24 h and the experiment repeated twice. The GP did not differ among treatments (147 ml/g DM), but the DMD differed (P &lt; 0.02) at highest for control (69.4%), lowest for ROD (58.4%) and intermediate for other treatments (64.1%). Total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration (mM) tended (P&lt; 0.08) to be lower with ROD (80.5) and monensin (80.1) than control (83.9). Acetate proportion was greater (P = 0.02) with ROD (46.2%) and RODE (46.9%) than control (42.4%) and monensin (42.3%). However, the propionate proportion was greater (P = 0.05) with monensin (32.1%) than other treatments (averaged 30.1%). Consequently, acetate to propionate ratio (A:P) of ROD (1.52) and RODE (1.56) was higher than monensin (1.32; P &lt; 0.01) and control (1.44; P &lt; 0.08). Differences in variables measured between ROD and RODE were minimal. These results indicated that the decreased DMD along with increased A:P with addition of ROD or RODE suggests that both ROD and RODE may be beneficial to HG fed cattle for reducing risk of rumen acidosis without negatively impacting fibre digestion.

PSX-B-8 Effect of supplementing red osier dogwood extract on in vitro gas production, feed digestibility and fermentation characteristics of high-forage diet

Red osier dogwood (ROD) is native shrub plant in Canada and rich in bioactive compounds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of ROD extract supplementation in a high-forage (HF) diet on gas production (GP), dry matter (DM) disappearance (DMD) and fermentation characteristics in batch cultures with varying media pH. The study was a completely randomized design with 4 levels of ROD extract (0, 1, 3 and 5% of substrate) × 2 media pH (5.8 and 6.5) factorial arrangement. The study was conducted in three replicate experiments. Substrate contained 60% barley silage and 40% barley concentrate (DM basis). Inoculum was obtained from 2 ruminally fistulated beef heifers offered the HF diet. Substrate (0.5 g DM) ground (1 mm) was incubated for 48 h in a culture bottle. Data were analyzed using Mixed procedure of SAS with fixed effects of treatments and random effect of experiment. There was no interaction between media pH and level of ROD on GP, DMD and fermentation characteristics. Increased media pH (5.8 vs. 6.5) increased (P &lt; 0.01) GP (averaged 164 vs. 275 ml/g substrate), DMD (50.6 vs. 60.6%), and total VFA production (63 vs. 71 mM). Increasing ROD extract levels did not affect GP but linearly (P = 0.05) decreased DMD from 62.1 to 58.9% at pH 6.5. Although total VFA production was not affected, increasing ROD extract linearly (P &lt; 0.01) increased the proportion of acetate (47.9 to 49.7%) and propionate (20.5 to 22.3%) at pH 5.8; whereas at pH 6.5, acetate to propionate ratio quadratically (P = 0.04) changed to be lower with 3% ROD extract (2.08) than other treatments (2.21). These results indicated that supplementation of HF diet with ROD extract may improve fibre digestion at low media pH, and improve fermentation efficiency at high media pH.

Effect of pine-based biochars with differing physiochemical properties on methane production, ruminal fermentation, and rumen microbiota in an artificial rumen (RUSITEC) fed barley silage

This study investigated the effects of three pine-based biochar products on nutrient disappearance, total gas and methane (CH4) production, rumen fermentation, microbial protein synthesis, and rumen microbiota in a rumen simulation technique (RUSITEC) fed a barley-silage-based total mixed ration (TMR). Treatments consisted of 10 g TMR supplemented with no biochar (control) and three different biochars (CP016, CP024, and CP028) included at 20 g·kg−1 DM. Treatments were assigned to 16 fermenters (n = 4 per treatment) in two RUSITEC units in a randomized block design for a 17 d experimental period. Data were analyzed using MIXED procedure in SAS, with treatment and day of sampling as fixed effects and RUSITEC unit and fermenters as random effects. Biochar did not affect nutrient disappearance (P > 0.05), nor total gas or CH4, irrespective of unit of expression. The volatile fatty acid, NH3-N, total protozoa, and microbial protein synthesis were not affected by biochar inclusion (P > 0.05). Alpha and beta diversity and rumen microbiota families were not affected by biochar inclusion (P > 0.05). In conclusion, biochar did not reduce CH4 emissions nor affect nutrient disappearance, rumen fermentation, microbial protein synthesis, or rumen microbiota in the RUSITEC.

Impact of Packing Density on the Bacterial Community, Fermentation, and In Vitro Digestibility of Whole-Crop Barley Silage

Packing density has a significant influence on the outcome of ensiling forage. In this study, we aim to investigate the effect of packing density on the ensiling properties, microbiome, and in vitro digestibility of barley silages. Barley was ensiled in polyethylene drum silos (30 L) with respective densities of 600, 650, 700, and 750 kg/m3 fresh matter (FM), and stored for 60 days. The bacterial communities, fermentation quality, and in vitro digestibility were analyzed. Fresh barley had a low count of lactic acid bacteria (LAB, 104 cfu/g of FM), and Lactobacillus was nearly undetectable (<1%). Increasing the packing density decreased the pH and the content of ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), ethanol, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) of barley silage (p < 0.05), and increased in vitro digestibility of dry matter, NDF, ADF, and DM recovery (p < 0.05). A higher packing density decreased the abundances of Enterobacter (from 47.4% to 35.4%) and Clostridium (from 13.5% to 3.8%), and increased the abundance of Lactobacillus (from 1.8% to 17.0%). Thus, packing density positively correlated with Lactobacillus (p < 0.05) but negatively correlated with Enterobacter (p < 0.05). The pH and the content of ethanol were positively correlated with Enterobacter (p < 0.05) but negatively correlated with Lactobacillus (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the density of 750 kg/m3 FM resulted in the highest silage quality of the densities tested.

Effects of barley and triticale silage based diets and residual feed intake on performance, profitability, and predicted CO2e emission of backgrounding steers

Background Feed costs are the largest expense in commercial beef production. Increasing cattle (Bos taurus) feed efficiency should reduce feed costs and increase beef profitability. This study used data from two years of a backgrounding trial conducted in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. The evaluation looked at economic and predicted CH4 emission impacts of diet quality and cattle efficiency type in backgrounding systems. The hypothesis was that diet quality from use of barley (Hordeum vulgare c.v. Canmore) or triticale (x Triticosecale c.v. Bunker) silage-based diets and cattle efficiency type would interact to affect profitability and CH4 emissions. Results The experimental design was a four (cattle efficiency type; defined by residual feed intake (RFI)) by two (barley or triticale silage-based rations) factorial treatment with two replicates (pen of eight steers)/treatment/year over two years. Year was a random blocking factor. Cattle weight, intake, and diet composition data were combined with market prices to assess profitability. Methane emissions data were predicted from observed performance using a nutrient requirement model. Effects of diet and cattle efficiency type on profitability and CO2e emissions were assessed using statistical and stochastic risk simulation. By supporting greater gain and feed efficiency, the barley silage diet provided higher net revenue (NR) and lower CO2e emission (P < 0.01 for both). The NR was affected by observed pen average RFI. Risk simulation showed preference for efficient steers and use of barley silage-based diets. Conclusions The profitability of beef backgrounding was affected by cattle efficiency type and diet quality with higher quality diets also lowering CO2e emission and little evidence of interaction between cattle efficiency type and diet quality. The difference in certainty equivalent (~$30/steer) of efficient steers on barley silage and inefficient steers on barley silage or efficient or inefficient steers on triticale silage supports a beef backgrounding producer focus on diet quality and cattle efficiency type. However, inefficient steers on barley silage still generated higher certainty equivalent per steer than efficient or inefficient steers on triticale silage. This study did not address potential agronomic differences, including yield, which could provide nuance to forage choice.

Effect of replacing barley silage with calcium oxide-treated barley straw on rumen fermentation, rumen microbiota, nutrient digestibility and growth performance of finishing beef cattle.

Effect of calcium oxide (CaO) treatment of barley straw and salt on rumen fermentation, microbiota, digestibility, growth and carcass quality of cattle was assessed. A replicated 4 × 4 Latin square metabolism experiment was conducted using 8 heifers fed a wheat finishing diet with barley silage (B-SIL), barley straw (B-S), or 5.0% CaO-treated barley straw (CaOS) with or without NaCl (CaOS-NS). Growth over 115-d was assessed using 75 individually housed steers fed the above diets and an additional diet (I-CaOS), where CaO was added to straw just before feeding. There was no effect (P ≥ 0.08) of diet on rumen fermentation, digestibility or carcass quality, although CaO decreased (P < 0.001) maximum pH and retained Na was decreased (P < 0.05) by CaOS-NS. Rumen bacterial abundance was altered (P ≤ 0.05) by diet. The average daily gain (ADG) of B-SIL and CaOS-NS steers was 14.1% greater (P ≤ 0.05) than BS and CaOS steers, while the gain:feed of CaOS-NS steers was 14.2% greater (P ≤ 0.05) than B-S and CaOS steers. Steers fed I-CaO had similar ADG and gain:feed to other treatments. CaO-treated straw without NaCl could replace barley silage in wheat diets, without compromising digestibility or growth in steers.

Effect of silage source, physically effective neutral detergent fiber, and undigested neutral detergent fiber concentrations on performance and carcass characteristics of finishing steers

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of silage source (barley vs. wheat silage) when harvested at two chop lengths (low vs. high physically effective NDF [peNDF]) and when barley silage was partially replaced with straw to increase the undigested neutral detergent fiber (uNDF) concentration on performance and carcass characteristics of finishing steers. Four hundred and fifty yearling commercial crossbred steers with an initial body weight (BW) of 432 ± 30.5 kg were allocated to 30 pens and fed diets containing 90% concentrate:10% forage for 123 days in a completely randomized block design with a 2×2 + 1 factorial arrangement. Treatments included: 1) barley silage (BarS) with low peNDF (LpeNDF); 2) BarS with high peNDF (HpeNDF); 3) BarS with straw to yield a diet with LpeNDF + uNDF; 4) wheat silage (WhS) LpeNDF; and 5) WhS HpeNDF. There were no silage x peNDF interactions for dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), or gain to feed ratio (G:F), but cattle fed WhS LpeNDF had a lower (P &lt; 0.01) proportion of yield grade 3 and a greater proportion in yield grade 2 carcasses than cattle fed BarS LpeNDF or HpeNDF and WhS HpeNDF. Cattle fed WhS LpeNDF had greater (P = 0.02) incidence of severe liver abscesses when compared to cattle fed BarS LpeNDF or HpeNDF and WhS HpeNDF. Cattle fed BarS consumed less (P &lt; 0.01) uNDF as a percentage of BW, had increased (P = 0.02) ADG, heavier (P = 0.02) hot carcass weight, with greater (P = 0.01) back fat thickness, and (P &lt; 0.01) incidence of minor liver abscesses when compared to cattle fed WhS. Feeding HpeNDF did not affect DMI, ADG, or G:F, but increased (P = 0.02) marbling score, and reduced (P &lt; 0.01) the proportion AA quality grade and increased (P &lt; 0.01) those classified as AAA as compared to cattle fed LpeNDF. Cattle fed low uNDF had lesser (P &lt; 0.01) uNDF intake as a percentage of BW, greater dressing percentage (P = 0.01), had a lower (P &lt; 0.01) proportion of carcasses in yield grade 2, and a greater (P &lt; 0.01) proportion of carcasses in yield grade 3 when compared to cattle fed high uNDF. Thus, silage source, peNDF, and uNDF content do not impact DMI or G:F when diets contain 10% forage, but BarS relative to WhS as well increasing the peNDF concentration may increase ADG, HCW, back fat thickness, dressing percentage, marbling score and carcasses classified as quality grade AAA. Future research is needed to evaluate the usefulness of peNDF and uNDF in rations for finishing cattle.

Using molecular microbial ecology to define differential responses to the inoculation of barley silage

Previously, we investigated the impact of a mixed Lactobacillus buchneri, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Lactobacillus casei inoculant on fermentation and aerobic stability of barley silage over two years in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, a classical response to inoculation was obtained with an increase in acetic acid concentration of silage ensiled in both mini- and bag silos. In 2010, this classical response was not observed in mini-silos but was observed in bag silos. The objective of this study was to determine if molecular microbial ecology could explain the differential responses to the inoculation of barley silage between the two years. The Illumina MiSeq sequencing results showed that inoculation increased Lactobacillus and lowered Pediococcus, Weissella, and Leuconostoc in both types of silos in 2009. However, a similar trend was not observed in mini-silos, but was instead observed in bag silos in 2010. Inoculation did not alter the core fungal community in either silo type in either year. Cladosporium, Leptosphaeria, and Cryptococcus were abundant in fresh forage, but were superseded by Pichia and Kazachstania after ensiling. Our results suggest that changes in silage chemistry corresponded to differences observed in microbial ecology. Inoculation may have less impact when using more mature crops with shorter ensiling times.

PSXI-15 Effects of post-pyrolysis treated biochars on nutrient disappearance, methane production and ruminal fermentation of a silage-based diet in an artificial rumen system (RUSITEC)

This study investigated the effects of post-pyrolysis treated biochar on nutrient disappearance, total gas and methane (CH4) production, rumen fermentation and microbial protein synthesis in an artificial rumen system (RUSITEC) fed a barley silage-based diet. The basal diet consisted of 60% barley silage, 27% barley grain, 10% canola meal and 3% mineral/vitamin supplement (DM basis). Three spruced-based biochars, treated post-pyrolysis with either zinc chloride, hydrochloric acid/nitric acid mixture or sulfuric acid were added at 2.0% of substrate DM. In a randomized complete block design, treatments were assigned to sixteen vessels (n = 4/treatment) in two RUSITEC systems. The experiment was conducted over 15 d, with 8 d of adaptation and 7 d of sampling. Nutrient disappearance of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) was determined after 48 h of incubation from d 9 to 12, and microbial protein synthesis was measured from d 13–15. Data were analyzed using PROC MIXED in SAS, with the fixed effect of treatment and random effect of RUSITEC system and vessel. Biochar inclusion did not affect disappearance of DM (P = 0.49), OM (P = 0.60), CP (P = 0.14), NDF (P = 0.48), ADF (P = 0.11) or starch (P = 0.58). Biochar also had no effect on total gas production (P = 0.31) or CH4 produced expressed as a % of total gas production (P = 0.06), mg/d (P = 0.70), mg/g of DM incubated (P = 0.74), or mg/g of DM digested (P = 0.64). No effect on total VFA (P = 0.56) or NH3-N (P = 0.20) production were observed. Neither microbial protein synthesis nor total protozoa count were affected by biochar addition (P &gt; 0.05). In conclusion, biochar inclusion in a silage-based diet did not exhibit the potential to mitigate CH4 emissions or improve digestion in a RUSITEC system.