Information on the relative contributions of all dietary sodium (Na) sources is needed to assess the potential efficacy of manipulating the component parts in efforts to implement current recommendations to reduce Na intake in the population. The present study quantified the contributions of inherently food-borne, processing-added, table, cooking, and water sources in 62 adults who were regular users of discretionary salt to allow such an assessment. Seven-day dietary records, potable water collections, and preweighted salt shakers were used to estimate Na intake. Na added during processing contributed 77% of total intake, 11.6% was derived from Na inherent to food, and water was a trivial source. The observed table (6.2%) and cooking (5.1%) values may overestimate the contribution of these sources in the general population due to sample characteristics, yet they were still markedly lower than previously reported values. These findings, coupled with similar observations from other studies, indicate that reduction of discretionary salt will contribute little to moderation of total Na intake in the population.

The objective of this study was to compare neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility of corn stover that had been treated by 2 alkali treatment methods. Two experiments were conducted to test a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treatment method that uses an ethanol/water co-solvent (NaOH/ethanol-HO, United States Patent No. 20140220228) and a calcium hydroxide (CaOH) treatment method, which uses water as a solvent (CaOH/HO). An in situ trial was conducted to compare NDF digestion kinetics between NaOH/ethanol-HO-treated stover, CaOH/HO-treated stover, untreated corn stover, and soy hulls. The digestion rate of potentially digestible NDF (k) of NaOH/ethanol-HO-treated corn stover (5.36%/h) was higher than CaOH/HO-treated stover (2.27%/h), or untreated corn stover (1.76%/h) and similar to the k of soy hulls (4.93%/h). The indigestible NDF (iNDF) fraction of untreated corn stover (35.1% of NDF) was reduced by CaOH/HO treatment (27.3% of NDF) and by NaOH/ethanol-HO treatment (2.8% of NDF). The iNDF fraction in soy hulls (3.6% of NDF) was similar to iNDF of NaOH/ethanol-HO-treated stover. An in vivo digestibility trial was also conducted to compare fiber digestibility of diets supplemented with untreated corn stover, NaOH/ethanol-HO-treated corn stover, or soy hulls. Total-tract apparent dry matter (DM) and NDF digestibility were measured with 8 lactating Holstein cows in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square with four 21-d periods. Apparent DM digestibility (DMD) was improved when supplemental soy hulls were added to the base diet (60.0% DMD) compared with the base diet with no supplemental fiber (57.7% DMD). Apparent DM digestibility was reduced when diets were supplemented with untreated stover (52.4%). Dry matter digestibility of NaOH/ethanol-HO-treated stover was similar (54.8% DMD) to all other treatments. Digestibility of NDF was lowest when cows were fed the diet with supplemented untreated stover (35.5% of NDF), and improved when soy hulls (40.6% of NDF) or NaOH/ethanol-HO-treated stover (43.8% of NDF) were added to the diets. The NaOH/ethanol-HO treatment process improves the DM and NDF digestibility of corn stover to values similar to those of soy hulls.

This study compared dry matter (DM) predictions of 3 handheld near-infrared spectrophotometer (NIRS) units (Moisture Tracker, Digi-Star Inc., Fort Atkinson, WI) to conventional oven drying at 60°C using 2 alfalfa and 2 corn silages. In addition, on-farm DM methods [microwave, Koster tester (Koster Moisture Tester Inc., Brunswick, OH), and food dehydrator methods] were also compared. Corn and alfalfa silages (1,600 g) obtained from the University of Wisconsin Dairy Cattle Center (DCC) and the Arlington Research Station (ARS) were analyzed for DM daily for 20 d. Two NIRS calibration methods were also tested within each unit. The DM predicted from the factory-preset calibrations was NIR f . The adjusted DM prediction was NIR a , where the average difference between oven-dried and NIR f determined on duplicate forage samples for 3 d before the experiment was used as a bias adjustment for all subsequent DM determinations. The average predicted DM from the 20 scans was recorded as the forage DM. The process was repeated 3 times with each NIRS unit. Two 100-g subsamples of each forage were also oven-dried for 48 h at 60°C daily in a forced-air oven. Oven DM of ARS and DCC alfalfa silages were 37.3 ± 1.1% and 48.5 ± 1.9%, respectively (mean ± standard deviation). Oven DM of ARS and DCC corn silages were 34.7 ± 1.2% and 37.4 ± 0.5%, respectively (mean ± standard deviation). Dry matter determinations from NIR f were on average 3.5 units higher than the oven DM values. The NIR a DM predictions were on average 1.7 DM units lower than the oven DM values. Additionally, differences among the 3 NIR f probe results were detected (43.1, 40.7, and 41.3% DM, respectively), but all other results were similar between probes. Determinations of DM by the microwave and food dehydrator were also similar with the 60°C, 48-h oven method, whereas the Koster tester was lower than the oven. The handheld NIRS units more accurately predicted DM content of the alfalfa silage but were not as accurate with corn silages when the factory preset calibrations were corrected for bias.

A s an alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) plant increases in height, Published in Crop Forage Turfgrass Manage.

Novel alfalfa varieties have been developed to have less lignin by genetic modification, (HarvXtra, Forage Genetics International) and by conventional breeding, (HiGest 360, Alforex Seeds). Second crop (d 29) of these alfalfas and a control, LegenDairy XHD (Winfield Solutions LLC), were harvested as high moisture wrapped bales (45.9–51.6 % DM) at the Arlington Agricultural Research Station (AARS) located near Arlington, WI, on July 5, 2017. The objectives of these experiments were to characterize novel reduced-lignin alfalfa varieties, assess their effects on growth of beef steers, and determine digestibilities using a total fecal collection trial. Treatments were fed ad libitum as alfalfa baleage to 300 kg (initial weight) black-hided beef steers, (n = 72, 4 pens/treatment, 83 d). Steers were fed solely alfalfa baleage and offered a trace mineral salt block by way of fence line feed bunks. Alfalfa lignin values were 7.56, 7.18, and 6.3% DM (P = 0.34) for LegenDairy, HiGest and HarvXtra, respectively. Steers gained 0.94, 1.00, and 1.07 kg hd-1 d-1 (P = 0.25) for LegenDairy, HiGest and HarvXtra, respectively. The same harvested alfalfa was used in a total collection fecal trial with fecal collection bags (Table 1). Numerical differences between alfalfa digestibilities were observed but no significant treatment effects were detected. Total tract NDF digestibilities (TTNDFD) for harvested alfalfas were 33.9, 35.0 and 40.3 % NDF (P = 0.079) for LegenDairy, HiGest and HarvXtra, respectively. Alfalfa lignin concentration differences were not detected through acid detergent-lignin analysis of harvested bales. While the ranking of lignin concentrations, digestibilities, and growth rates followed prevailing logic, alfalfa variety treatment effects were not detected. Experimental designs with greater sensitivity should be implemented in the future.