The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the in situ dry matter degradability and in situ crude protein degradability of soybean meal subjected to different treatments (thermal, chemical, tannins or saponins). The treatments were: conventional soybean (CON); soybean expeller (EXP); lignosulfonate-treated soybean meal (LIGS); condensed tannin-treated soybean meal (CTAN); hydrolysable tannin-treated soybean meal (HTAN) and Yucca schidigera extract-treated soybean meal (YUC). Samples of 5 g soybean meal were packed in nylon bags and incubated in the rumen of 2 fistulated cattle for seven incubation times (0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 hours), in sequence were washed, dried and weighed. The ruminal kinetics parameters were calculated, and the experiment was completely randomized, with six treatments, four replicates each, with duplicates. The EXP and LIGS treatments showed lower crude protein disappearance (CPD) within 12 hours, the CON, HTAN and YUC treatments had the highest CPD, and the CTAN presented an intermediate value (41.84%) (P < 0.05). EXP had the lowest fraction “a” (soluble) of crude protein (CP) (10.1%) followed by LIGS and CTAN (average of 14.82%). EXP and LIGS had the highest rumen undegradable fraction of CP (57.35 and 51.62%), respectively. In addition, ruminal disappearance rates of dry matter and CP of the treatments ranged from 2.17 to 1.36% h-1 and from 2.63 to 1.2% h-1, respectively. The most efficient treatments to reduce ruminal protein degradation were EXP, LIGS and CTAN.

Functional additives, such as autolyzed yeasts, have been used to achieve greater production efficiency and animal health. These compounds are also alternatives to the use of performance-enhancing antimicrobials. The objective was to evaluate the productive performance, ingestive behavior, apparent digestibility of feed DM and the carcass characteristics of beef steers finished in feedlot receiving autolyzed yeasts in the diet. The experimental design was randomized blocks, consisting of three treatments and six repetitions, where each repetition was represented by a stall with two animals. 36 bulls, ½ Angus × ½ Nelore blood, from the same herd, with an average age of 11 months and an average body weight of ± 330 kg were used.The treatments were as follows: CON - yeast-free diet; Y4 - yeast diet (4 g animal day-1) and Y7 - yeast diet (7 g animal day-1). The product used is a functional ingredient containing the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The inclusion of autolyzed yeasts resulted in greater daily body weight gain and better feed conversion in the initial feedlot phase. The apparent digestibility of DM of diets containing autolyzed yeast was superior to the control diet, and its use did not interfere with the animal ingestive behavior. Supplementation with autolyzed yeasts at the inclusion level of 4 g day-1 promoted better results in the finishing of feedlot steers, and that the supplemented groups (4 g animal day-1 and 7 g animal day-1) achieved the same degree of carcass finishing, higher than the control group.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the productive performance, ingestive behavior, apparent digestibility of the diet, rectal temperature, superficial thermography of skin and hull, and the carcass traits of heifers finished in confinement under the effect of inclusion of live yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae as probiotic) in the diet. The treatments were: Control: diet without the inclusion of live yeasts, and Yeast: diet with the inclusion of live yeasts (7 g animal day-1, at the concentration of 107 CFU g-1. The diets were composed of corn silage at a constant forage: concentrate ratio of 50: 50, on a dry matter basis. The experimental design was completely randomized, composed of two treatments and nine replicates, wherein each replicate was represented by a stall with two animals. Thirty-six heifers, ½ blood Angus, from the same herd, with an average age of 11.9 months and an initial average body weight of 317 kg, were used in the experiment. Supplementation of live yeasts in the diet for finishing heifers proved to be efficient in the feedlot finishing phase because it provided improvement in the apparent digestibility of DM. In relation to the productive performance, ingestive behavior, rectal temperature, superficial thermography of skin and hull and carcass traits, no statistical difference was found between the treatments. The animals have already come from the property adapted to the feedlot system, defining small challenge against the presence of live yeasts included in the experimental diet, justifying the lack of expression on some results obtained.

The experiment was conducted at the Animal Production Center (Núcleo de Produção Animal – NUPRAN) of the Center for Agrarian and Environmental Sciences of the Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste - UNICENTRO - CEDETEG Campus, Guarapuava, State of Paraná. This study aimed to evaluate biomass production, plant physical composition, chemical composition and dry matter contents of the plant and structural components of forage corn. The experiment was carried out in 5x5 factorial with five planting densities (80, 160, 240, 320 and 400 thousand plants ha-1), harvested in 5 times (40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 days after planting). The harvesting time caused a statistical difference for all parameters, and the planting densities factor only caused statistical difference in leaf participation and dry biomass production. There was no interaction for any of the parameters evaluated. Forage corn, harvested in the vegetative stage, can be a great ally of the rural producer, since it presents high potential for food production with high nutritional value in a short period of time, and in significant amount with production of up to 14,720 kg ha-1 dry biomass reached at 80 days of cycle with 320 thousand ha-1, freeing the soil for the production of another crop.

Considering dry biomass production and fiber composition, is the best P30R50H. The advance of the stages provided an increase in the grain participation. R4 stage was the moment of best for silage production.

The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the productivity, nutritional value and degradability of forage and silage of wheat (Triticum aestivum cv. BRS Umbu) and black oats (Avena strigosa cv. Embrapa 139), preceded by successive cuts, harvested at the hard dough stage, subjected or not to treatment with pyraclostrobin fungicide. Plants were harvested manually with a height of 0.08 m from the ground surface, at the hard dough stage, after two cuts at the vegetative stage; two applications of pyraclostrobin, 0.6 L ha-1 were made, before the first and the second cut. Pyraclostobin decreased the dry matter losses from 21.1% of the control system to 7.7% for the system with pyraclostrobin, reduced the neutral detergent fiber from 70.05% to 66.73%, decreased detergent fiber acid from 43.37% to 39.96%, decreased lignin from 14.37% to 10.13% and increased the relative value of the food from 75.27% to 82.72%, all in the forage, which resulted in changes in silage, with a decrease in neutral detergent fiber from 64.00% to 58.46%, acid detergent fiber from 38.76% to 35.87%, lignin from 10.11% to 6.78% and an increase in the relative value of the food from 85.87 to 97.26. In the evaluation of the forages, wheat presented the best productivity, with 10,068 kg ha-1 vs. 8,238 kg ha-1 black oats, lower neutral detergent fiber (60.32% vs. 76.46%), lower acid detergent fiber (34.49% vs. 48.84%) and higher relative value of the food (96.04 vs. 61.95), these data were from the forage, which were reflected in the resulting silage. It is recommended to use pyraclostrobin as it reduces losses during fermentation, changes fiber composition and improves the degradability of the food. Among the forages, the wheat was more promising, than black oats, due to its productivity, combined with its better chemical composition and degradability.

The objective was to evaluate the efficiency of two bacterial inoculants, 11CFT and 11C33, with different genera of lactic acid bacteria on the chemical and fermentation composition of the silage, and the temperature and pH behavior of the silage during the feed out period. The experimental design used was randomized blocks, with three treatments: corn silage without inoculant (control); corn silage with 11CFT inoculant (consisting of strains of Lactobacillus buchneri and L. casei); and corn silage with 11C33 inoculant (consisting of strains of L. buchneri, L. plantarum and Enterococcus faecium). The use of both inoculants increased the concentration of lactic acid in the silage (22.42 g kg-1 for control against 36.00 and 33.33 g kg-1 for 11CFT and 11C33, respectively) and reduced aerobic dry matter losses. The silage treated with 11C33 obtained a higher concentration of acetic acid (17.44 g kg-1) and propionic acid (2.08 g kg-1). The 11CFT inoculant provided a lower concentration of ethanol, however, without differing from the silage with 11C33 (0.70 and 1.61 g kg-1, respectively). Even without variations in temperature and pH at silage unloading, the use of the 11C33 inoculant generated a higher concentration of acetic and propionic acid, providing better aerobic stability days after unloading. Both inoculants also improved the in situ ruminal digestibility of corn silage compared to control silage. They provide an increase in the content of lactic and propionic acids, which assist to reduce dry matter losses and ethanol production. There were no variations in temperature and pH at the silo unloading, however, the use of the 11C33 inoculant generated a higher concentration of acetic and propionic acids providing better aerobic stability after exposure to air.

The objective was to evaluate the associative effect of monensin sodium to virginiamycin on the performance, dry matter intake, apparent digestibility and ingestive behavior of steers in the initial feedlot phase. The experiment lasted for 30 days, divided into two experimental periods. Thirty-six Angus Nellore steers, non-castrated, with a mean age of 10 months and an average weight of 300 kg, were divided into 18 pens. Animals were assigned to three treatments with six replications each, with the inclusion of the following additives: T1-monensin sodium, dose of 200 mg day-1; T2-monensin sodium, dose of 125 mg day-1 + virginiamycin, dose of 125 mg day-1; and T3-monensin sodium, dose of 200 mg day-1 + virginiamycin, dose of 125 mg day-1. All experimental procedures were previously submitted to the UNICENTRO Committee for Ethics in Animal Experimentation (CEUA), and were approved for execution (Official Letter 021/2019). The combination of monensin sodium with virginiamycin at a dose of 200 mg + 125 mg animal day-1 showed greater (P < 0.05) average daily weight gain (1.919 kg day-1) and better feed conversion (4.27 kg DM kg of weight gain-1) compared to diets with monensin alone (200 mg animal day-1) or monensin combined with virginiamycin (125 mg + 125 mg animal day-1), even with no significant (P> 0.05) difference in DM intake, with a mean value of 7.88 kg animal day-1. Regardless of the isolated or combined supplementation of the additives, no significant differences were detected in the analysis of the feeder and feces scores, ingestive behavior, and rectal temperature or infrared thermography during the evaluation period. The combination of monensin sodium with virginiamycin at 200 mg + 125 mg animal day-1 proved to be efficient in the initial feedlot period, determined by the greater weight gain and better feed conversion observed in this study.