Effects of different barley grain preservation techniques on intake, growth and carcase traits of finishing dairy bulls fed grass silage-based rations

Abstract

The effects of different barley grain preservation techniques on intake, growth and carcase traits of dairy bulls were determined in a feeding trial using 52 Holstein and 48 Nordic Red bulls which were allotted to four feeding treatments (five pens and 25 bulls per treatment). Spring barley was harvested with a conventional combine harvester and four different preservation techniques formed the four experimental treatments. Dry grain (DG) was dried to the targeted dry matter (DM) concentration of 870–880 g/kg and rolled within 7 days prior to feeding. High moisture grain treated with a formic acid-based additive (FA) was harvested and crimped on the targeted DM content of 700 g/kg. Low moisture grain treated with a urea-based additive (UR) and low moisture grain treated with a propionic acid-based additive (PA) were harvested and crimped on the targeted DM content of 800 g/kg. The bulls were fed with total mixed ration ad libitum. On DM basis, the diets included grass silage (500 g/kg), barley grain (485 g/kg) and a mineral–vitamin mixture (15 g/kg). Daily DM intake (DMI) and live weight gain were 6% higher when crimped grains were used instead of DG (P < 0.05). There were no observed significant differences in DMI, gain or carcase traits between high moisture and low moisture crimped grain treatments or between UR and PA. The current results show that producers have the option to vary grain preservation system without major changes to growth performance or carcase traits.

Preservation characteristics and bacterial communities of crimped ensiled barley grains modulated by moisture content and additive application

“…The effects of additives depended on MC so that improvements in preservation characteristics in response to LAB and SALT were observed at medium and high MC, while FPA was effective at all MC levels. The efficacy of formic acid-based additives to restrict fermentation and improve the preservation quality has been observed in several earlier studies preserving high-moisture grains ( Franco et al, 2019 ; Huuskonen et al, 2020 ; Rinne et al, 2020 ). The effects of additives on the extent of fermentation were rather typical for ensiled grains, in a way that LAB boosted the fermentation, while FPA restricted it, and SALT had a minor effect on it as also observed by Rinne et al (2020) using simultaneously all these types of additives on crimped ensiled faba bean seeds.…”

“…Crimping has resulted in equal milk production as using dried grains in dairy cow feeding ( Rinne et al, 2022 ). The growth performance of growing bulls was even increased, when high moisture instead of dry barley was used ( Huuskonen et al, 2020 ). Hydrolysis of fibre during the fermentation may increase the grain digestibility in monogastric farm animals ( Perttilä et al, 2001 ) and anti-nutritional compounds of grain legume seeds may be degraded during the in-silo fermentation ( Rinne et al, 2020 ) providing additional benefits to this type of grain preservation.…”

Effects of Grass Silage Additive Type and Barley Grain Preservation Method on Rumen Fermentation, Microbial Community and Milk Production of Dairy Cows

“…In studies comparing the milk production potential of dry vs. ensiled barley, Pettersson et al [16] found a slight decrease, while Jaakkola et al [14] and Adler and Randby [15] reported no differences. In a recent experiment using beef bulls, crimped ensiled barley resulted in higher feed intake and carcass gain than dry barley [41].…”

The Effects of Grass Silage Additive Type and Barley Grain Preservation Method on Rumen Function, Microbial Ecology, and Energy Metabolism of Dairy Cows

“…In experiments using barley, Petterson et al [45] reported a slight decrease, Jaakkola et al [46] found no difference and Jatkauskas et al [7] indicated a positive milk production response when ensiled rather than dry barley grains were fed to dairy cows. In addition, improved growth rate of bulls [14] was observed when crimped and ensiled rather than dry barley grains were used in finishing beef cattle diets.…”

“…There is also increasing interest in high-moisture preservation of cereal grains with potential benefits in the nutritional value. Benefits in feed digestibility were observed in a meta-analyses by Ferraretto et al [13] and Torres et al [8] without major changes in milk production, while Huuskonen et al [14] reported increased growth performance of beef bulls receiving high moisture grains compared to dry grains. Further, high-moisture grain preservation can result in substantial economic savings compared to drying under humid harvesting conditions [15].…”