October 16, 2007

 

Cattle farmers advised further study for alternative cattle feed

 

 

Alternative cattle feed should be carefully studied such as its costs and nutritional values, thus the advice of animal scientists during a beef tour last month at the University of Missouri's Southwest Centre near Mount Vernon.

 

Such feed can be in dry, cake, wet or syrup form, and include the byproducts of fuel production.

 

Costs in hauling the feed to the farm and storage should also be considered, said Justin Sexton, Missouri's beef extension nutritionist.

 

Providing such feed should include a goal to reduce forage consumption, especially during a drought.

 

Corn costs dictate the economics of alternative feeds, he added.

 

A bushel of corn will generate three gallons of ethanol and what is left weighs 17 to 18 pounds, he said.

 

Monty Kerley, an animal scientist at the university, said glycerol or biodiesel fuel from soy has the same energy value as corn.

 

A feeding study covering 110 days showed cattle getting no glycerol had average daily gain of three pounds. Adding glycerol at rates of 5 or 10 percent of the ration has increased average daily to 3.2 to 3.4 pounds respectfully.

 

Doubling the glycerol to 20 percent cut animal gains to 2.7 pounds per day, he said.

 

More biodiesel would mean lower prices below of feeding corn, he said.

 

Glycerol should be fed with hay to enable cattle to absorb the feed, he said. When the methanol level in the glycerol exceeds 150 parts per million, it is not to be fed to animals, according to the Federal Drug Administration.