Fodder Sugar Beet Research Articles

Reticulo-rumen Fermentation in Dairy Cows Fed 12 Times Daily with 4 types of Roughages Supplemented with Straw and Concentrates

Abstract The aim of the experiment was to compare the effect of the roughage type on the reticulo-rumen fermentation when included in rations having the same physical properties expressed as chewing time and the same content of energy. The design of the experiment was a 4×4 latin square with 4 types of roughages and 4 dairy cows fed 3 times maintenance. The 4 roughages compared, were fodder sugar beet, beet top silage, beet pulp silage and grass silage. Each ration contained about 6 kg dry matter of one of the 4 roughages. The rations were balanced to the same chewing time of 800 min daily with ammonia-treated barley straw and to the same nutrient content by means of selected concentrates. The cows were fed every 2 hours. The rumen fluid samples were taken at 08.00, 12.00 and 18.00 hours for determination of the content of volatile fatty acids (VFA), ammonia nitrogen and pH. The four experimental cows differed in terms of the concentration of propionate (p<0.04), isovalerate (p<0.04) and of ammonia nitrog...

Studies on the oxalate contents of the leaves of certain varieties of Beta vulgaris

1. Studies were made during the 1951 and 1952 seasons of the oxalate contents of the leaves of mangolds, sugar mangolds and fodder sugar beet.2. In all varieties greater concentrations of total oxalates were found during the summer months, the amounts diminishing gradually as the season advanced. Up to 12% was found in the dry-matter of mangold leaves and 9% in fodder sugar-beet leaves in July, these levels falling to 3% by mid-winter. There is some evidence that these changes are due in part to loss of outer leaves.3. Roughly one-third of the oxalates are present in water-soluble form. The addition of 1 part of chalk to 1000 parts of leaves, as has been generally recommended, is theoretically sufficient to render unavailable the soluble oxalates present during winter, but insufficient for leaves fed earlier hi the season.4. A number of observations showed small reductions in the soluble oxalate contents of the leaves due to wilting, but there were exceptions to this, and these appear to be related to sampling periods rather than to varieties.5. Insoluble oxalates appear to be unaffected by wilting and may show apparent increases in amount due to respiration losses of labile leaf constituents. The insoluble/soluble oxalate ratio is thus changed by wilting.6. It is suggested that the undesirable effects sometimes resulting from the feeding of beet leaves to livestock may not be due to oxalates, but that other factors present, which are labile during wilting, may be involved.