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Nutritional Evaluation of Forage Kochia (Kochia Prostrata) as an Alternative Forage For Beef Cattle Using a Dual-Flow Continuous Culture System
Nutritional Evaluation of Forage Kochia (Kochia Prostrata) as an Alternative Forage For Beef Cattle Using a Dual-Flow Continuous Culture System
Monday, July 21, 2014
Exhibit Hall AB (Kansas City Convention Center)
Abstract Text: Forage kochia (FK; Kochia prostrata) has the potential to be used as forage for beef cattle due to its high nutritional value and ability to grow well on soils with low moisture content. The objective of this experiment was to determine the nutritional value and rumen fermentation characteristics of FK as compared to alfalfa hay (AH) and orchardgrass hay (OH). Diets were randomly assigned to six dual-flow continuous culture fermenters (1,200 to 1,250 mL) in a replicated 3X3 Latin square arrangement with three 10-d experimental periods consisted of 7 days for diet adaptation and 3 days for sample collection. Fermenters were fed a total of 72 g of DM/d equally divided in 12 portions of 1 of 3 diets: Diets were (1) 100% AH, (2) 100% OH, and 100% FK. Liquid and solid dilution rates were adjusted daily to 10%/h and 5%/h, respectively. A sample of 500mL from each fermenter was taken on days 8, 9, and 10. Two subsamples of 10ml were filtered through two layers of cheesecloth, and were preserved with 0.2 mL of 50% sulfuric acid and were centrifuged for subsequent ruminal NH3-N and VFA analysis. Statistical analyses were performed using the GLM procedure in SAS. There were no differences (P>0.05) among treatments for total VFA, molar proportion of acetate, propionate, butyrate, and branched-chain VFA (Table 1). However, there were differences (P<0.05) for NH3-N. Ruminal NH3-N observed was greater for FK compared with AH and OH, indicating a greater N availability for microbial growth; nevertheless, there were no significant differences between AH and OH. Results from this experiment indicated that FK may be a viable alternative for beef cattle producers. This is especially important for areas in which conventional forages may not grow well such as the U.S. Great Basin area.
Keywords: Forage kochia, Alfalfa hay, In vitro fermentation
|
Treatment |
|
|
||
|
AH |
OH |
FK |
SEM |
P-value |
|
Diet Composition %DM |
|
|
||
CP |
15.7 |
10.3 |
20.9 |
|
|
NDF |
40.2 |
61.3 |
37.9 |
|
|
NH3-N, mg/dL |
1.23b |
0.77b |
2.76a |
0.37 |
0.04 |
Total VFA, mmol |
90.6 |
85.6 |
91.0 |
5.78 |
0.77 |
Acetate, % |
74.8 |
72.0 |
73.9 |
2.72 |
0.77 |
Propionate, % |
17.1 |
18.3 |
16.8 |
1.94 |
0.85 |
Butyrate, % |
6.1 |
7.6 |
6.7 |
1.05 |
0.60 |
Isobutyrate, % |
0.23 |
0.18 |
0.30 |
0.03 |
0.23 |
Valerate, % |
1.37 |
1.47 |
1.44 |
0.25 |
0.95 |
Isovalerate, % |
0.34 |
0.36 |
0.56 |
0.09 |
0.30 |
Acetate:Propionate |
5.1 |
3.9 |
4.8 |
0.62 |
0.45 |
Total BCVFA, mmol |
2.2 |
1.8 |
2.4 |
0.48 |
0.70 |