Intake and performance of feedlot cattle fed diets based on high and low Brix sugar cane with or without calcium oxide and corn silage

Felipe Antunes Magalhães,Gustavo Chamon De Castro Menezes,Koiti Komura,Douglas Dos Santos Pina,Marcelo Grossi Machado,Diego Zanetti,Sebastião De Campos Valadares Filho,Mateus Pies Gionbelli

doi:10.1590/s1516-35982012000600026

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate low and high Brix diets, treated or not with 5 g of calcium oxide per kg of natural matter, and corn silage on intake, digestibility and performance of beef cattle. Forty cattle with initial body weight (BW) of 350 kg were used: five composed the control group, 30 were distributed into random blocks (control) and the other five were distributed in a 5 × 5 incomplete Latin square, with the objective of determining digestibility. The 30 animals evaluated for performance were slaughtered and empty body weight (EPW), carcass dressing and meat cuts were determined. The diet with corn silage (CS) presented the best intake of the other ingredients and the best weight gain, except for neutral detergent fiber intake in g/kg of BW. Only carcass dressing, in relation to BW and EBW, was not affected by the treatments, and the others were greater for animals fed diets with sugar cane silage. Animals fed diets with high brix sugar cane silage and treated high brix sugar cane silage presented lower intake of indigestible neutral detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein (g/kg of BW) in relation to diets with low and high brix sugar cane silage, respectively. Animals fed diets with corn silage presented higher digestibility, except for crude protein and non-fibrous carbohydrates. Animals subjected to diets with corn silage presented low excretion of nitrogen compounds and higher microbial crude protein synthesis. Animals fed sugar cane silage present greater intake, performance and digestibility. The use of lime during 15 or 20o Brix sugar cane ensilage does not alter intake, digestibility or performance of beef cattle.

Highlights

Sugar cane ensilage represents an operational solution (Valvasori et al, 1995)
Each pen contained six electronic Calan type gates with individualized trough where the roughage and concentrates offered to the animals were weighed daily as well as the leftovers after 24 hours, so intake for each animal, as well as the number of accesses to the trough and the time animals stayed there were obtained through random block design with five treatments and six replicates, and initial body weight was used for the formation of blocks
Five treatments were distributed in a 2x2+1 factorial arrangement, in which the roughage was constituted of sugar cane silage with two levels of calcium oxide (0 or 5 g of calcium oxide per kg of natural matter), two Brix degrees (15 and 20o) and corn silage given ad libitum, and concentrate given at the proportion of 10 g/kg of the body weight (BW)

Summary

Introduction

Sugar cane ensilage represents an operational solution (Valvasori et al, 1995). the greatest obstacles are the losses resulting from high production of ethanol, carbonic gas and water by yeast. The use of additives such as calcium oxide is vital for reducing fermentative losses (Roth et al, 2010). Another alternative would be to ensilage low content of soluble carbohydrate material (low Brix degree) because the low level of substrate would limit yeast growth. This would make two cuts of the sugar plantation per year possible, resulting in a higher yield per area and a higher digestibility fiber of the green sugar cane (low Brix) when compared with mature sugar cane (high brix) (Ferreira et al, 2007).

Objectives

Methods

Results