Effect of substitution of soybean meal by dried tomato pomace on feed intake, rumen fermentation and nitrogen utilisation in goats

Abstract

Goat production in northeast of Thailand has gradually increased, partly because of the limited land available to raise cattle. The other reason is that goats can give twin kids and can give birth twice a year under good management. Tomato pomace is a by product from the tomato juice factory. Dried tomato pomace is a promising protein source with high protein content. The price of dried tomato pomace is cheaper than soybean protein when expressed as price per unit protein. The trial of Yuangklang et al. (2006) found that dried tomato pomace increased growth rate in beef cattle. In dairy cows, replacing soybean meal by dried tomato pomace did not influence milk production (Yuangklag et al., 2005). Data on utilisation of dried tomato pomace in goats is limited. Therefore the present experiment aimed to investigate the effects of substitution of soybean protein by dried tomato pomace in the concentrate diet on feed intake, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen utilization of meat goats.