Influence of seasonal forage quality on glucose kinetics of young beef cows

Extensive range livestock production systems in the western United States rely heavily on rangeland forages to meet the nutritional needs of grazing livestock throughout the year. Interannual variation in the quantity and quality of rangeland forage in the Northern Great Plains, as well as throughout much of the western United States, may play a pivotal role in how well grazing ruminants sequester nutrients in their tissues. This variation in forage quality may influence the ability of a beef cow to utilize dietary nutrients via changes in tissue responsiveness to insulin. Identifying specific periods and production states in which this phenomenon is manifested will provide insight into the development and implementation of strategic and targeted supplementation practices that improve nutrient utilization during times of nutritional imbalance and may improve the lifetime productivity of grazing range beef cows. A 2-yr study was conducted to monitor serum metabolites, glucose kinetics during glucose tolerance tests, and forage chemical composition every 90 d in young cows (2 to 4 yr of age; n = 28). In yr 1 and 2, cows were managed on 4 pastures varying in size from 36 to 76 ha in yr 1 and 49 to 78 ha in yr 2. Regardless of year, cow age, or cow physiological status, the main factor influencing glucose half-life was season of the year (P = 0.02). Effects of season on glucose half-life closely followed assessments describing forage quality, with glucose half-lives of 46, 39, 43, and 51 +/- 3.9 min for May, August, December, and March, respectively. Elevated glucose half-life during seasons in which forage quality is of lower nutritive value indicated that tissue responsiveness to the actions of insulin followed seasonal changes in forage quality. Glucose half-life tended (P = 0.09) to decrease between May and August, increased (P = 0.04) between December and March, and showed a tendency (P = 0.10) to decrease in seasons of greater nutrient density (May and August) compared with seasons of lower nutrient density (December and March). Seasonal changes in serum metabolites were also observed and corresponded with changes in forage quality. The results support our hypothesis that as the season progresses and forage quality declines, maternal tissues become less responsive to insulin, indicating that targeted supplementation with glucogenic precursors during these seasons of nutritional stress may improve cow performance.     

By-product feed utilization by grazing cattle.

Supplementation of grazing cattle is a routine management practice that serves several purposes. It can be used to fill the gaps created by seasonal deficiencies in forage growth and quality. Supplementation can also extend pasture availability during drought, increase the carrying capacity of the pasture, and provide nutrients that are inadequate or missing in the forage. Supplementation can also be used effectively to dilute anti-quality factors present in certain forages. Locally available by-products of the grain and food-processing industries can provide a cost-effective source of nutrients to balance the nutritional needs of grazing cattle. It is expected that the availability and cost effectiveness of these feeds will only grow as cattle compete with the biofuels industry for grain in the future.     

天水市肉牛产业发展探讨

本文分析了天水市肉牛产业发展现状,针对诸如品种改良管理工作滞后、饲草料不能配套、牛肉产品竞争力不强、现代肉牛养殖技术普级不够等问题,提出了立足饲草打基础、扩大母畜增强持续发展能力、明确肉牛改良方向以提高个体生产性能的建议。     

Effect of restricted forage intake on ruminal disappearance of bromegrass hay and a blood meal, feather meal, and fish meal supplement

Two experiments were conducted to determine in situ disappearance of bromegrass hay and a ruminally undegraded protein (RUP) supplement in beef cattle fed restricted amounts of forage. Six Angus crossbred cattle (BW = 589 +/- 44.4 kg; three steers and three heifers) fitted with ruminal cannulas were fed chopped (2.54 cm) bromegrass hay (8.9% CP) at one of three percentages of maintenance intake (30, 55, or 80%; one steer and one heifer per treatment). In both experiments, the cattle were allowed 7 d for diet adaptation followed by 3 d of sample collection. In Exp 1, in situ bags (50 microm pore size) containing 4.1 g of brome-grass hay (OM basis) were inserted into the rumen and subsequently removed at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 24, 36, and 48 h after insertion. Nonlinear regression models were used to determine the rapidly solubilized protein Fraction A, the potentially ruminal degradable protein Fraction B, the ruminally undegraded protein Fraction C, and protein degradation rate. Intake level did not affect (P = 0.15 to 0.95) forage protein remaining after in situ incubation or Fractions A, B, and C; however, effective ruminal degradation of hay protein tended to increase quadratically (P = 0.12) as forage intake increased. In Exp 2, 4.2 g (OM basis) of an RUP supplement (6.8% porcine blood meal, 24.5% hydrolyzed feather meal, and 68.7% menhaden fish meal) formulated to provide equal amounts of metabolizable protein across all levels of hay consumption was evaluated in a similar manner as in Exp 1. The undegraded protein fraction of the supplement did not differ (P = 0.16 to 0.74) across treatments at 3, 6, 9, and 18 h; however, increasing forage intake resulted in a linear increase (P < or = 0.06) in undegraded protein remaining at 12, 15, 24, 36, and 48 h. Dietary treatment had no affect (P = 0.30) on protein Fractions A, B, or C; however, protein degradation rate of the supplement decreased linearly (P = 0.03) as forage intake increased. Therefore, effective ruminal degradation of the supplement decreased linearly (P = 0.01) from 50.8 to 40.9% as forage intake increased from 30 to 80% of maintenance. Corresponding estimates of supplement RUP were 49.2, 56.5, and 59.1% for the 30, 55, and 80% of maintenance intake treatments, respectively. Restricting dietary intake can decrease the quantity of dietary protein that escapes ruminal degradation. Tabular estimates of RUP may not be appropriate for formulating diets to balance metabolizable protein in beef cattle consuming limited quantities of forage.     

Grazing management as it affects nutrition, animal production and economics of beef production

Until recently, the nutritional fate of the grazing animal has been largely ignored by both animal and range scientists despite the economic dependence of the extensive livestock industry on nutrition from grass. Of the three factors that can be manipulated to improve profit gross margin per animal, is one that is directly affected by nutrition and, hence, grazing management. The relationship between economics and grazing management may be summarized as: Gross margin = f(Animal Performance); Animal Performance = f(nutrition); Nutrition = f(grazing). Economical beef production must consider the needs of the animal and the forage plant at the same time. The health of the sward must be maintained while improving individual animal performance and simultaneously increasing stocking rate. Generally, plants that have been defoliated require a period of recovery before again being grazed. A sward is kept in a vigorous state by preventing repetitive defoliation at the one extreme, and avoiding excessive shading (mature growth) of photosynthetic material at the other. This state is best achieved where livestock grazing is controlled. For any individual paddock, periods of grazing are followed by periods that allow adequate physiologic recovery of the plants. A grazing regimen that keeps the plant in a healthy state is fortuitously also well suited to the nutritional requirements of the animal. Animals on overgrazed pastures are likely to suffer from inadequate feed intake because of deficiencies in feed quantity. Conversely, on over-rested pastures, intake deficiency results from paucity in feed quality. On most unmanaged ranges, overgrazed and over-rested plants are likely to be found side by side. By controlling duration of the rest period as well as duration of the grazing period through pasture subdivision, requirements of both the plant and the animal can be met. With artificially high economic demands placed on animal production, some form of supplementation is required in most modern livestock situations. Whereas energy is frequently the nutrient limiting production it is seldom economically feasible to supplement the grazing animal directly with energy. Protein supplementation to increase forage intake, and thus indirectly energy intake, has become standard practice in many grazing situations. When there is adequate forage with a low crude protein content (less than or equal to 7%), microbially degradable protein is the preferred choice. However, when the animals are in an energy deficient state, either through a shortage of available forage or because their requirements exceed energy intake levels, by-pass protein is required.     

贵州省优质饲草加工技术及其效益分析

由于贵州省空气湿度大,导致该地区干草系列产品发展的成本较高,且无法适应市场规律,因此,更适合发展优质饲草青贮及发酵全混合日粮（FTMR）等厌氧保存产品。而在实际生产过程中,农户和养殖企业则更加关心这些饲草产品的生产成本。介绍了优质饲草的青贮和FTMR加工技术,并以肉牛为例,分析了贵州省较为常见的青贮玉米、燕麦、苜蓿干草青贮和FTMR的饲喂价值、生产成本和效益,以期能为贵州饲草加工和草食家畜养殖企业提供参考。     

秦川牛高、中档牛肉生产技术规范的研究 Ⅲ、高、中档牛肉生产技术规范

利用原产于陕西关中地区的本地良种秦川牛资源和当地饲料资源,根据以往科学试验成果,提出本规范以生产替代进口的高中档牛肉。规范包括牛只选择;育肥期,肥育牛的营养与饲料,饲养与管理方法;以及肥育记录等。本规范适用于秦川牛以及含秦川牛遗传组成的杂种牛。生产中环境与饲养条件千差万别;根据具体情况可以对所提原则要求有所变通。     

Alpharma Beef Cattle Nutrition Symposium: implications of nutritional management for beef cow-calf systems

The beef cattle industry relies on the use of high-forage diets to develop replacement females, maintain the cow herd, and sustain stocker operations Forage quantity and quality fluctuate with season and environmental conditions Depending on class and physiological state of the animal, a forage diet may not always meet nutritional requirements, resulting in reduced ADG or BW loss if supplemental nutrients are not provided It is important to understand the consequences of such BW loss and the economics of providing supplementation to the beef production system Periods of limited or insufficient nutrient availability can be followed by periods of compensatory BW gain once dietary conditions improve This may have less impact on breeding animals, provided reproductive efficiency is not compromised, where actual BW is not as important as it is in animals destined for the feedlot A rapidly evolving body of literature is also demonstrating that nutritional status of cows during pregnancy can affect subsequent offspring development and production characteristics later in life The concept of fetal programming is that maternal stimuli during critical periods of fetal development have long-term implications for offspring Depending on timing, magnitude, and duration of nutrient limitation or supplementation, it is possible that early measures in life, such as calf birth BW, may be unaffected, whereas measures later in life, such as weaning BW, carcass characteristics, and reproductive traits, may be influenced This body of research provides compelling evidence of a fetal programming response to maternal nutrition in beef cattle Future competitiveness of the US beef industry will continue to be dependent on the use of high-forage diets to meet the majority of nutrient requirements Consequences of nutrient restriction or supplementation must be considered not only on individual animal performance but also the developing fetus and its subsequent performance throughout life.     

Effects of supplementation on intake, digestion, and performance of beef cattle consuming fertilized, stockpiled bermudagrass forage

Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of increasing supplement protein concentration on performance and forage intake of beef cows and forage utilization of steers consuming stockpiled bermudagrass forage. Bermudagrass pastures were fertilized with 56 kg of N/ha in late August. Grazing was initiated during early November and continued through the end of January each year. Treatments for the cow performance trials were: no supplement or daily equivalents of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 g of supplemental protein per kilogram of BW. Supplements were formulated to be isocaloric, fed at the equivalent of 0.91 kg/d, and prorated for 4 d/wk feeding. Varying the concentration of soybean hulls and soybean meal in the supplements created incremental increases in protein. During yr 1, supplemented cows lost less weight and condition compared to unsupplemented animals (P < 0.05). During yr 2, supplemented cows gained more weight (P = 0.06) and lost less condition (P < 0.05) compared to unsupplemented cows. Increasing supplement protein concentration had no affect on cumulative cow weight change or cumulative body condition score change. Forage intake tended to increase (P = 0.13, yr 1 and P = 0.07, yr 2) in supplemented cows. Supplement protein concentration did not alter forage intake. In a digestion trial, four crossbred steers were used in a Latin square design to determine the effects of supplement protein concentration on intake and digestibility of hay harvested from stockpiled bermudagrass pasture. Treatments were no supplement; or 0.23, 0.46, and 0.69 g of supplemental protein per kilogram of BW. Forage intake increased (P < 0.05) 16% and OM intake increased (P < 0.01) 30% in supplemented compared to unsupplemented steers. Diet OM digestibility increased (P = 0.08) 14.5% and total digestible OM intake increased (P < 0.05) 49% in supplemented compared to unsupplemented steers. Supplement protein concentration did not alter forage intake, total digestible OM intake, or apparent digestibility of OM or NDF. During the initial 30 d after first killing frost, beef cows did not respond to supplementation. However, later in the winter, supplementation improved utilization of stockpiled bermudagrass forage.     

滨州地区肉牛饲料资源调查报告

通过调查，摸清了全区饲草资源、饲料资源的分布、数量、利用现状、开发潜力、存在的问题，提出开发利用饲料资源的建议，为合理开发、改良、利用饲草料资源，促进畜牧业的发展，特别是促进肉牛业的发展，提供科学依据。     

Functional Resource Heterogeneity Increases Livestock and Rangeland Productivity

Most of the world's rangelands are subject to large spatial and temporal variation in forage quantity and quality, which can have severe consequences for the stability and profitability of livestock production. Adaptive foraging movements between functional seasonal resources can help to ameliorate the destabilizing effects on herbivore body stores of spatial and temporal variability of forage quantity and quality. Functional dry-season habitats (key resources) provide sufficient nutrients and energy to minimize reliance on body stores and are critical for maintaining population stability by buffering the effects of drought. Functional wet-season habitats dominated by short, nutritious grasses facilitate optimal intake of nutrients and energy for lactating females, for optimal calf growth rates and for building body stores. Adaptive foraging responses to high-quality focal patches induced by rainfall and disturbance further facilitate intake of nutrients and energy. In addition, focused grazing impact in high-quality patches helps to prevent grassland maturing and losing quality. In this regard, the design of many rotational grazing systems is conceptually flawed because of their inflexible movement of livestock that does not allow adaptation to spatial and temporal variability in forage quantity and quality or sufficient duration of stay in paddocks for livestock to benefit from self facilitation of grazing. Similarly the fixed intraseasonal resting periods of most rotational grazing systems might not coincide with the key pulses of nitrogen mineralization and rainfall in the growing season, which can reduce their efficiency in providing a functional recovery period for grazed grasses. This might explain why complex rotational grazing systems on average have not out-performed continuous grazing systems. It follows, therefore, that ranchers need to adopt flexible grazing management practices that allow adaptation to spatial and temporal variability in forage quantity and quality, allow facilitation of grazing (season-long grazing), and allow more effective recovery periods (season-long resting).     

肉牛短期育肥饲养管理技术

文章从牛舍建设、饲草饲料、肥牛选购、育肥季节、育肥技术等几个方面介绍了在肉牛短期育肥过程中应考虑和解决好的问题,以便给管理技术提供参考。     

关于藏区牦牛产业扶贫调结构补短板的建议

文章论述了藏区牦牛产业扶贫存在的瓶颈痛点问题,提出了在供给侧调结构补短板的解决方案。第一,调整优化牦牛养殖品种结构,在供给侧建设良种犊牛繁育场,为牦牛养殖户提供良种犊牛;第二,调整优化牦牛肉产品结构,由生产冻牛肉向冷鲜牛肉转变;第三,在供给侧补饲草料匮乏短板,从内地调运青贮玉米草料包到藏区,利用内地饲草料资源对青藏草原生态进行替代。     

陕西省农村肉牛生产中存在的问题及对策

发展肉牛生产是适合陕西省饲粮短缺的实际，充分利用粗饲料资源，调整人们膳食结构的重要途径。而肉牛饲养水平的提高，很大程度上取决于农村千家万户散养户饲养技术科技含量的提高。本文详细分析了陕西当地农村肉牛饲养中存在的问题和相应的对策，对指导当地农村科学养牛具有一定的作用。     

青海农区冷季肉牛的饲草饲料管理技术研究

冷季饲草料中粗蛋白和干物质含量是肉牛生产性能提高的重要因素,而且饲草料资源的不同组合对肉牛生产性能的影响也有很大差异,通过对青海省冷季饲草料的干物质和粗蛋白的分析,并对三组试验动物喂食三种不同日粮后,对消化率、增重、料肉比的统计数据进行方差分析后,发现日粮的组分的选择、配比与肉牛的增重、料肉比的关系,并讨论了青海省农区冷季饲草料的资源状况,在饲草料的组分、配比方面给出了科学的建议。     

浅论优质牧草在肉牛饲养中的利用

针对我国肉牛饲养在饲料利用中的误区,结合肉牛的消化及代谢特点,分析了牧草的鲜喂、青贮、干草饲喂以及综合利用4种不同的利用方式及其营养特点,指出优质牧草用于肉牛饲养能充分发挥牧草的优良特性,而且符合我国畜牧业发展要求,值得广泛推广.     

张掖百万头肉牛基地建设的成效、发展趋势及存在问题建议

本文对张掖百万头肉牛基地建设工程实施以来所取得的成效进行了总结,主要是养殖规模扩大、技术支撑得力、良种普级率提高、饲草加工率提高、屠宰加工生产建成并投产、肉牛业运行机制初步完善。分析了该工程面临肉牛养殖效益不高、技术配套不平衡等问题。进一步就产业政策、消费结构和经营理念出现的新动向,对张掖市肉牛产业发展趋势进行预测,最后就百万头肉牛基地建设工程提出了四项建议。     

Prediction of nitrogen excretion in feces and urine of beef cattle offered diets containing grass silage

Data from 286 beef cattle, obtained in total diet digestibility assessments, were used to examine effects of dietary and animal factors on N excretion in feces and urine and to develop prediction equations for N excretion in beef cattle. The animals used were mainly from beef breeds, at various ages (from growth to finishing) and live BW (153 to 580 kg), and offered diets containing grass silage at production feeding levels. Dietary forage proportion ranged from 199 to 1,000 g/kg of DM and dietary CP concentration from 108 to 217 g/kg of DM. Linear and multiple regression techniques were used to examine relationships between the efficiency of N utilization and dietary and animal variables with the experimental effects removed. The statistical analysis indicated that N excretion was related positively (P < 0.001) to live BW and intakes of DM, N, and ME, and negatively (P < 0.001) to dietary forage proportion. The prediction equation for N excretion, developed using N intake alone, produced a large r2 (0.898) and a small SE (12.3). Addition of live BW and forage proportion as supporting predictors to this relationship only marginally increased R2 to 0.915 and reduced SE to 11.2. Nitrogen excretion was less well related to live BW (r2 = 0.771, SE = 18.5) than to N intake. Addition of N intake as a proportion of DMI or ME intake to the relationship between live BW and N excretion increased R2 to 0.824 and reduced SE to 16.2. The internal validation of these equations revealed that using N intake as the primary predictor produced a very accurate prediction of N excretion. In situations where data on N intake are not available, prediction equations based on live BW and dietary N concentration together can produce a relatively accurate assessment of N excretion. A number of mitigation strategies to reduce N excretion in feces and urine in beef cattle are discussed, including manipulation of dietary N concentration, diet quality, and level of feeding. The prediction equations and mitigation strategies developed in the current study provide an approach for beef producers to quantify N excretion against production and to develop their own mitigation strategies to reduce N excretion.     

Conservation of Pattern and Process: Developing an Alternative Paradigm of Rangeland Management

This article examines the question of how well the rangeland management profession has served conservation of patterns and processes that support multiple ecosystem services. We examine the paradigms under which rangeland management operates and argue that our profession developed under the utilitarian paradigm with the primary goals of sustainable forage for livestock production. While optimization of multiple rangeland products and services has always been a consideration, a comprehensive set of principles have not be been developed to advance this concept. We argue that fire and grazing, often viewed as mere tools used for production goals, should rather be viewed as essential ecosystem processes. Rangeland management continues to operate under the utilitarian paradigm appropriate to societal values of the 20th century and by and large has failed to provide management guidance to reverse degradation of several highly valued ecosystem services. We support this argument with evidence that biodiversity has declined on rangelands in the past half century and that much of this decline is due to management goals that favor a narrow suite of species. The full suite of ecosystem services valued by society will only benefit by management for heterogeneity, which implies that there is no one goal for management and that landscape-level planning is crucial. Explicitly incorporating heterogeneity into state-and-transition models is an important advancement not yet achieved by our profession. We present new principles for rangeland management formed on the basis of conservation of pattern and process. While recognizing that many rangelands have significant deviations from historic plant communities and disturbance regimes, we suggest that management for conservation of pattern and process should focus on fire and grazing to the extent possible to promote a shifting mosaic across large landscapes that include patches that are highly variable in the amount of disturbance rather than the current goal of uniform moderate disturbance.     

A Perspective on Forage Production in Canada

Over the past decade, the cattle industry has experienced practically a full circle. With the promising beef prices in the early 1970s, with the glut of grain and a generous assist from government incentive programs, the forage acreage and cattle population have increased at a record rate. By 1974, the tide began to turn — grain prices went up sharply and beef prices became sluggish — and by 1976 a major crisis faced the producers. The cattle industry which had been developing on a cheap grain economy was now obliged to rely more on forage for its survival. Unfortunately, the forage was not existent and the only salvation of the industry was the gift of Providence — weather patterns that provided ample moisture conditions and above normal forage crops, the utilization of cereals and the intervention of government cow-calf support programs.Over the past year, the cycle was completed and record beef prices again prevail. The barley bins are full again and the cattlemen are gearing up for a few fat years. Demands for forage seed are brisk and the seeding down of forage acreage is bound to increase substantially over the next few years. And with this increase, cattle population expansion is bound to follow: how much expansion can the economy support? The production cost factors will determine the extent, but one can almost be certain that any expansion will either be modest or of short duration. At least, it should be.If the cattle industry is to establish solid foundations, it cannot be dependent upon the instability of a grain surplus-shortage position. With the present resources and the potential for developing it in direct competition with other crops, one can only expect a small and steady expansion over a long time span. One must agree with the range researchers and specialists of the Canada Research Stations at Lethbridge and Swift Current that pasture and range will continue to be the limiting factors of cattle expansion as they have been for the past 50 years. It is interesting to note that in the Prairie Provinces at least, the number of livestock raised each year has not changed since 1930 although cattle have largely replaced the horses.It is easy to speculate on paper that Canada can double in the next 20 years its forage and cattle production on its large expanses of land on the fringes of the agriculturally settled areas. It is true that these lands, while marginal for cash crops, could produce excellent forage. But at what cost? And what kind of pasture could we grow on them?It is easy to speculate that our livestock geneticists can breed a ruminant-type animal that will feed on poplar saplings and poplar leaves, or develop a new breed of cattle with buffalo vigor that will thrive in the extreme north. But looking at the musk-ox experience in the Northwest Territories and the history of the Wood Buffalo National Park leaves little room for optimism.The present generation is not likely to see in its lifetime the cattle population go beyond the 20 million mark. We can look, however, with good assurance on the present cattle numbers remaining stable and can look forward to gradual increase brought about by normal improvement in both forage and cattle management.Hopefully, both the cattle producer and the veterinarian will be able to reap the benefits of this most important segment of Canada''s agricultural industry.