Enteric methane emissions, intake, and performance of young Nellore bulls fed different sources of forage in concentrate-rich diets containing crude glycerine

Abstract

Forty young Nellore bulls were used to determine the effects of different sources of forage in concentrate-rich diets containing crude glycerine on feed intake, performance, and enteric methane emissions. Ten animals (397 ± 34 kg and 20 ± 2 months of age) were slaughtered to estimate the initial carcass weights, and the remaining 30 animals (417 ± 24.7) were randomly assigned to three treatments with 10 replicates. The treatments consisted of three different sources of forage [NDF from forage (fNDF) was fixed 15% of dry matter]; corn silage, sugarcane, and sugarcane bagasse; in diets rich in concentrates with 10% dry matter crude glycerine. There were no differences in the intake of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fibre, gross energy, or metabolisable energy. No effects of the type of forage were observed on performance or enteric methane emissions. These results suggest that alternatives to corn silage that have high fibre content, such as sugarcane and sugarcane bagasse, do not significantly affect the intake, performance, or enteric methane emissions of young Nellore bulls.