The study was conducted to evaluate the nutritive value of mulberry pomace (MP) treated with sun-drying (SD), ensiling (EN), and ensiling with a Lactobacillus additive (ELA), respectively. The chemical composition, in situ degradabilities, and in vitro gas production were determined for all treated MP samples. The results showed that there were significant differences (P<0.05) in dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) among SD, EN and ELA treatments. Although some fermentation parameters of two ensiled MP products were significantly different, both of them fell within the normal fermentation range. The in vitro gas production of the SD treatment was higher than of the EN and ELA treatments, while the proportion of methane produced by MP treated with EN and ELA was significantly lower (P<0.05) than that of MP treated with SD; MP treated with SD had significantly higher acetate production than the two ensiled MPs. In situ DM and protein effective degradabilities of MP treated with SD were higher than in MP treated with EN and ELA. In conclusion, mulberry pomace ensiled with or without Lactobacillus additives exhibited good fermentation traits, suggesting that ensiling is more acceptable than sundrying in practice.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different litter mixture compositions on bedding system temperature, pH and volatile fatty acid and ammonia-N (NH3-N) content, and the serum physico-chemical parameters and growth indices of calves. Thirty-two Limousin calves (280±20 kg) were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 8 for each group) according to the bedding system used: i) control with soil only (CTR); ii) mixture with 50% paddy hulls (PH), 30% saw dusts (SD), 10% peat moss (PM) and 10% corn cobs (CC) (TRT1); iii) mixture with 15% PH, 15% SD, 10% PM, 40% CC, and 20% corn stover (CS) (TRT2); iv) mixture with 30% PH, 10% PM, 40% CC, and 20% CS (TRT3). The litter material combinations of different treatments were based on the cost of bedding system materials in China. The cost of four treatments from low to high: Control

Increasing cost and scarcity of maize has stimulated the use of alternative feed sources (AFS) in the diets of cattle. In this study, we investigated the effects of partial or total replacement of maize on nutrient digestibility, growth performance, blood metabolites, and economics in Limousin crossbred feedlot cattle. Forty-five Limousin×Luxi crossbred bulls were randomly assigned to the three treatment groups, orthodox diet (OD; 45.0% maize), partial replacement diet (PRD; 15% maize, 67% AFS), total replacement diet (TRD; 0% maize, 100% AFS). The growth feeding trial lasted for 98 days. Dry matter intake (DMI) and average daily gain (ADG) were recorded. The digestion trial was carried out after the end of the growth trial. Total faeces and feed samples were measured daily. Digestibilities of dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were calculated. After the feeding trial, blood metabolites were measured in 12 animals from each group. Initial and final body weights did not differ significantly among treatment groups (p>0.05). The ADG and DMI were 1.72 and 8.66, 1.60 and 9.10, and 1.40 and 9.11 kg/d for OD, PRD, and TRD, respectively. The PRD and TRD exhibited lower ADG (p<0.01) and higher DMI (p<0.01) than OD. The DMI (%body weight) was comparable between groups (p>0.5). Feed efficiency of PRD and TRD were lower than OD (p<0.01). The DM digestibility decreased with reduced level of maize (p = 0.10), OM digestibility was higher in OD (p<0.05), and CP, NDF and ADF digestibilities were similar for all groups (p>0.05). Blood urea nitrogen (mg/dL) in PRD and TRD was higher than OD (p<0.01), while other blood parameters did not differ significantly. Feed costs ($/head/d) were 1.49, 0.98, and 0.72 for OD, PRD, and TRD, respectively (p<0.01). Feed costs per kg gain ($) were significantly lower for PRD (0.63) and TRD (0.54) than OD (0.89; p<0.01). Overall profit ($/head) and daily profit ($/head/d) did not differ significantly between treatments (p>0.05), although TRD showed the highest economic benefits overall (p<0.01). While a traditional diet maximized the growth rate, partial or total replacement of dietary maize with AFS proved economically feasible due to their lower costs and comparable nutrient digestibilities of DM, CP, NDF, and ADF. Partial replacement may prove economically competitive in the current situation of China.

This study compared the finishing performance carcass characteristics and economic benefits of two imported (Limousin and Simmental) and three local (Luxi, Jinnan and Qinchuan) cattle breeds slaughtered at 18.5 months of age under thetypical Chinese beef production system. All cattle (n=71) were reared under the same production system and fed the same finishing diet for 105 days. Eight bulls from each breed were randomly selected for slaughtering. Compared with the three local breeds, the two imported breeds had higher average daily gain, dry matter intake and gain efficiency. Regarding carcass characteristics, the two imported breeds had higher carcass weight, bone weight, net meat weight, and ribeye area (P<0.001). However, the local breeds had higher (P<0.01) marbling scores than the imported breeds. The imported breeds showed higher economic benefits (P<0.001) than the local breeds. In conclusion, the imported cattle breeds had better growth performance, carcass traits and economic benefits compared with the local cattle breeds at 18.5 months old under the typical Chinese feeding conditions whereas, in this study, the local breeds may have some advantage in terms of meat quality