2014. Fiber degradability, chemical composition and conservation characteristics of alfalfa haylage ensiled with exogenous fibrolytic enzymes and a ferulic acid esterase-producing inoculant. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 697Á704. This study investigated the effects of two fibrolytic enzyme products, applied at baling alone or in combination with a ferulic acid esterase-producing bacterial additive, on the ensilage dynamics, chemical composition and digestibility of alfalfa haylage. Five replicate wrapped bales were produced with one of five treatments, including an untreated control, and one of two fibrolytic enzyme products (EN1 and EN2) applied either alone or in combination with a ferulic-acid producing bacterial additive (FAEI). No effect of treatment was observed on the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (P00.889) or acid detergent fiber (ADF) (P00.065) concentrations of haylage after ensilage, but haylage produced using fibrolytic enzyme products underwent greater (PB0.018) increases in temperature following exposure to aerobic conditions. Haylages produced with fibrolytic enzyme products had a greater (PB0.001) in vitro NDF degradability (NDFD) than untreated haylage. The use of fibrolytic enzymes applied to alfalfa haylage at ensiling increased the NDFD, despite minimal effects on the chemical composition of the herbage. However, the greater aerobic deterioration of fibrolytic enzyme-treated bales indicates higher dry matter losses during aerobic exposure. The use of FAEI with fibrolytic enzymes did not further enhance the effects of fibrolytic-enzyme treatments.

Schwartzkopf-Genswein, K. S., Shah, M. A., Church, J. S., Haley, D. B., Janzen, K., Truong, G., Atkins, R. P. and Crowe, T. J. 2012. A comparison of commonly used and novel electronic techniques for evaluating cattle temperament. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 92: 21–31. The temperament of steers (n=28) was assessed using five quantitative techniques including: flight time, flight distance, electronic (strain-gauge and accelerometer) tests, and three visual scores (VS) made during entry, restraint and exit from a squeeze chute. The objective of this study was to determine the most important predictive parameters based on those measurements and evaluate the relationship between the techniques. Flight time and distance were correlated with exit VS (r=−0.51, and 0.41, P<0.05; n=56), but were not related to restraint VS. Data from strain-gauge and accelerometer sensors were used to generate parameters such as peak response and area under the curve that were correlated with all three VS. Regression models using VS as the dependent variable and a combination of 2 to 5 parameters from the strain-gauge and accelerometer tests as independent variables predicted temperament with values of 29 to 65 or 41 to 57%, respectively. When all techniques, excluding VS, were used as independent variables, model accuracy increased to 72, 81 and 77% for restraint, exit and the sum of all VS, respectively. These findings suggest the objective measures of temperament assessed in this study could be used to identify highly reactive animals.

, J. 2015. Comparing grazing and resting electivity of beef cattle for BC bunchgrass communities using GPS collars. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 95: 499Á507. Grasslands in the interior of British Columbia often contain a mosaic of plant communities that provide variable habitat for free-ranging cattle. Global positioning system (GPS) collars have been used to study natural habitat use by cattle on a coarse scale (such as riparian, grassland and forested habitats), but not on a fine scale (such as choice among grassland plant communities). Cows equipped with GPS collars were tracked during the spring grazing period for 4 yr. Six grassland pastures were used as replicates. The activity (grazing or resting) of cattle at GPS locations was classified using a distance travelled algorithm. A detailed plant community map of five plant community types was constructed, and cow relative use within the plant communities was determined. Electivity, which scales for differences in community area, was used to compare the use of plant communities. While grazing, electivity for the Kentucky bluegrass community (mean '0.3) was greater than for the bluebunch wheatgrass community (mean (0.2). While resting, these differences were more pronounced. GPS collars can be used to estimate fine-scale choices among grassland communities.Key words: Free-ranging cows, plant community electivity, grazing, resting Thompson, D., Wheatley, B. J., Church, J. S., Newman, R. et Walker, J. 2015. Comparer le choix de paˆturage et de repos chez les bovins de boucherie dans les communaute´s de gramine´es cespiteuses de la Colombie-Britannique au moyen de colliers GPS. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 95: 499Á507. Les prairies de l'inte´rieur de la Colombie-Britannique contiennent souvent une mosaı¨que de communaute´s ve´ge´tales qui offrent des habitats variables pour les bovins qui broutent en liberte´. Des colliers GPS (« global positioning system » ou syste`me de localisation mondiale) ont e´te´utilise´s pour e´tudier les habitats naturels utilise´s les bovins a`grande e´chelle (tels que les habitats riverains, prairies et forestiers), mais pas a`l'e´chelle plus fine (tel qu'un choix entre plusieurs communaute´s ve´ge´tales des prairies). Les vaches munies de colliers GPS ont e´te´suivies pendant la pe´riode de paˆturage printanie`re pendant 4 ans. Six pre´s de prairies ont e´te´utilise´s comme re´plicats. L'activite´(broutage ou repos) des bovins aux endroits de´signe´s par GPS a e´te´classe´e au moyen d'un algorithme de distance voyage´e. Une carte de´taille´e des communaute´s ve´ge´tales de cinq types de plantes a e´te´construite et l'utilisation relative par les bovins dans chaque communaute´a e´te´de´termine´e. Le choix, qui change d'e´chelle selon les diffe´rences de superficie des communaute´s, a e´te´utiliseṕ our comparer l'utilisation des communaute´s ve´ge´tales. Lors du broutage, le choix de la communaute´de paˆturin des pre´s (moyenne '0,3) e´tait plus e´leve´que pour la communaute´d'agropyre a`e´pi (moyenne (0,2). Au repos, ces diffe´rences e´taient encore plus...

Hartling, I., Cinel, B., Donkor, K. K., Ross Friedman, C., Paetkau, M. J. and Church, J. S. 2014. Short Communication: Tenderness of suckler beef produced in British Columbia. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 295–298. In order to investigate the potential of suckler beef production in British Columbia, shear force values were determined using Warner–Bratzler shear (WBS) force tests on 10 major muscles obtained from suckler-raised Simmental cattle along with the longissimus thoracis from grain- and grass-fed cattle of similar breeding. Shear force values obtained for suckler beef were then compared with literature values from grain-fed beef. All suckler beef muscles except the psoas major and spinalis dorsi had lower WBS values than their grain-fed counterparts from literature values, while the longissimus thoracis was shown to have equal tenderness in all three production systems. Results suggest that a higher number of muscles from suckler beef in this study could be used as steaks than is typically observed in the North American beef industry.