Keynote paper presented at the International Leucaena Conference, 1‒3 November 2018, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.Leucaena can be fed as the sole diet to fattening cattle without nutritional problems and it will promote high liveweight gains. The high crude protein concentration in leucaena suggests that energy supplements, which are readily fermented in the rumen, could be used to capture the excess rumen degradable protein and provide more microbial protein and metabolizable energy to the animal, further increasing liveweight gain or milk production. This approach has been tested in grazing cattle and also in cut-and-carry systems in Australia and Indonesia. In both systems, production (liveweight gain or milk production) increased with the addition of supplements containing large amounts of fermentable meta- bolizable energy. The substitution of the basal diet (leucaena or leucaena mixed with grass or crop residues) by the supplement also means that more animals can be carried in the system for a set amount or area of leucaena. The same principles would apply to any tree legume-based system. Energy supplements can come in many forms, viz. fermentable starch (cereal grains and cassava), sugars (molasses), pectins (soybean hulls and pulps) and fibre (rice bran, cassava bagasse), but they have not been compared for their efficacy nor for their economic benefit, if any, in these systems.

We evaluated the precision and accuracy of equations from the Australian Ruminant Feeding Standards (ARFS) and the Large Ruminant Nutrition System (LRNS) in predicting the performance of Ongole (Bos indicus) cattle under Indonesian conditions. A database was constructed using information from 121 cattle in five different pen-feeding experiments. Cattle included mature cows and growing bulls, and they were fed a range of diets commonly used by Indonesian farmers. We compared observed and predicted dry matter intake and daily liveweight gain. Model predictions were evaluated for precision and accuracy using mean bias, mean square prediction error and regression of observed against predicted values. Across all experiments, the LRNS provided the better estimates of intake and growth. While both models included animal age, sex, weight and body condition score, the LRNS provided better estimates of metabolisable energy requirements for maintenance of liveweight, feed quality and efficiency of energy utilisation. The LRNS model also better accounted for environmental conditions by including correction factors for minimum night temperature and relative humidity, in addition to average daily temperatures. Based on our results, the LRNS model appears suitable for use in Indonesian beef-production systems.

Improving the productivity and profitability of smallholder cattle enterprises in Indonesia requires greater and more efficient utilisation of underutilised feed resources such as rice straw. The experiment tested the hypothesis that an Ongole cow with low energy requirements can maintain weight (W) on a rice straw-based diet with the addition of a small amount of tree legumes. Thirty-two Ongole cross (Bos indicus) cows were allocated to one of four treatments in a randomised block design with eight cows per treatment. Cows were offered untreated rice straw ad libitum with four levels of tree legumes (0, 11, 21, and 42 g DM/kg W0.75.day) for 20 weeks. Feed intake was determined daily and liveweight was measured every second week. There was no difference in total feed intake between the treatment groups (P > 0.05). Intake of tree legumes was higher when more was offered (P < 0.05), but cows did not consume all of the legumes offered to them. The inclusion of tree legumes in the diet had no effect on organic matter digestibility, ME content of the diet, liveweight gain or estimated energy balance of the cows (P > 0.05). Rice straw alone contained insufficient ME and rumen-degradable N to meet the maintenance requirements of the cows. From the regression relating liveweight change and ME intake for all cows across all diets, the inclusion of tree legumes in the diet at ~12 g DM/kg W0.75.day or 2.8 g DM/kg W.day was enough to meet the energy requirements for maintenance of Ongole cows fed rice straw ad libitum.

The aim of this experiment was to test the effectiveness of two diets in increasing liveweight (LW) and body condition score (BCS) of Brahman cows in Indonesia. Diets were based on rice straw, with additional energy and nitrogen (N) provided in the form of onggok (a cassava by-product) plus urea or a tree legume. Thirty mature, non-pregnant, non-lactating Brahman crossbred cows (288 kg LW, BCS 2/5) were allocated to one of two treatment groups. Cows were kept in individual pens for 21 weeks and offered one of two diets; (1) urea-supplemented rice straw ad libitum plus 10 g onggok DM/kg LW.day, or (2) untreated rice straw ad libitum plus 5 g onggok DM/kg LW.day and 5 g Gliricidia sepium DM/kg LW.day. The urea supplement provided no advantages over using locally available N sources such as gliricidia, with both supplement types meeting the rumen-degradable N requirements of the cows. Cows on both diets gained weight at a similar rate (0.19 kg/day) for the first 15 weeks of the experiment. Liveweight gain in Weeks 16–21 was only 0.04 kg/day, despite an increase in total feed intake and energy content of the diets compared with Weeks 1–15. Liveweight of cows stabilised during Weeks 16–21 at 304 kg, BCS 2.2. While our results demonstrate that Brahman cows can maintain LW on rice straw-based diets, they may not be able to maintain a BCS sufficient for good reproduction rates (i.e. BCS 3 or higher on 1–5 scale). Better quality diets containing higher levels of energy are required for cows to gain and maintain a suitable BCS.

Poppi., DP 2016, ' Metabolisable energy intake but not crude protein intake or bovine somatotropin hormone (bST) increased hip height in Bos indicus cross steers. ', in 31st

The reduction of CH4 from the digestive tract of ruminants can be done through the use of organic components of plants such as tannins and saponins and the use of probiotics. This study aims to evaluate the addition of organic components and probiotics to the characteristics of rumen fluid and its ability to reduce CH4 in Ongole Cross Breed (PO) cattle. Sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) leaf meal and Trembesi (Samanea saman) leaf meal are used as organic components due to their tannin and saponin content. Probiotics contain Acetoanaerobium notarae and Saccharomyces cereviseae. This research used total mixed ration as a feed. A total of 24 heads PO cattle were divided into 4 treatments, ie T1 = control treatment; T2 = T1 + organic components, T3 = T1 + Probiotics and T4 = T1 + organic components + probiotics. The research design was a randomized block design. The combination treatment of the addition of organic components and probiotic caused a decrease in the ratio of acetic acid to propionic acid (C 2 :C3), percentage of acetic acid, the concentration of CO2 and CH4, but increases the percentage of propionate acid. The combination of organic components and probiotics is the greatest decrease in CH4 production from enteric fermentation.

This study aimed to solve the reproductive problems in crossbred cows suffering from ovarian hypofunction (HPO). Twenty-four cows were divided into four treatments with six replications, treatment A concentrate feed (control); treatment B: control + premix; treatment C control + two boluses, and treatment D control + four boluses. The experimental period was 42 days (two estrous cycles). The bolus formulation consisted of vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, zinc, Moringa oleifera and alginate powder. Data analysis using oneway ANOVA with a Completely Randomized Design. The results showed that the lowest number of follicular palpations in cows suffered from HPO was 67% compared to 83% premix administration, while all cows given bolus were obtained follicular palpation or cured 100%. The results showed that the follicle diameters of the four treatments were not significant difference, but the results of rectal palpation were almost palpable, except treatment A on day 21 that could not be palpated on the left follicle and no corpus luteum was found, whereas in treatments B, C and D partially luteal phase were found. It was concluded that the best treatment of HPO in cows suffered from HPO was by providing two boluses, and was administered twice a week.

The aim of this research was to compare different feeding strategies to increase the weight and body condition score (BCS) of Ongole (Bos indicus) and Bali (Bos javanicus) cows kept by smallholder farmers in Indonesia. Thirty mature, non-pregnant, non-lactating Ongole and Bali cows were allocated to one of three treatment groups in a randomised block design, with five cows of each breed per treatment. The experiment consisted of a 2-week adaptation period and 24-week experimental period. In Weeks 1–17 cows were offered one of three diets; rice straw ad libitum plus gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) at 3 g DM/kg W.day (RSG3), rice straw at 10 g DM/kg W.day plus gliricidia at 10 g DM/kg W.day, or elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) ad libitum. During Weeks 18–24 the cows previously fed the RSG3 diet were offered rice straw ad libitum plus rice bran at 10 g DM/kg W.day. There was no change to diets of the other groups. Feeding untreated rice straw plus gliricidia or rice bran only provided enough metabolisable energy for maintenance of both breeds. Ongole and Bali cows consuming elephant grass gained weight at 0.25 and 0.33 kg/day, respectively. However, even at these higher growth rates it would still take ~4–6 months for cows to gain 1 BCS unit (1–5 scale). Maintaining a good BCS would be a better management strategy.