Inclusion of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) silage in dairy cow rations affects nutrient digestibility, nitrogen utilization, energy balance, and methane emissions

Abstract

Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) is a tanniniferous legume forage that has potential nutritional and health benefits preventing bloating, reducing nematode larval establishment, improving N utilization, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the use of sainfoin as a fodder crop in dairy cow rations in northwestern Europe is still relatively unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sainfoin silage on nutrient digestibility, animal performance, energy and N utilization, and CH4 production. Six rumen-cannulated, lactating dairy cows with a metabolic body weight (BW(0.75)) of 132.5±3.6kg were randomly assigned to either a control (CON) or a sainfoin (SAIN)-based diet over 2 experimental periods of 25 d each in a crossover design. The CON diet was a mixture of grass silage, corn silage, concentrate, and linseed. In the SAIN diet, 50% of grass silage dry matter (DM) of the CON diet was exchanged for sainfoin silage. The cows were adapted to 95% of ad libitum feed intake for a 21-d period before being housed in climate-controlled respiration chambers for 4 d, during which time feed intake, apparent total-tract digestibility, N and energy balance, and CH4 production was determined. Data were analyzed using a mixed model procedure. Total daily DM, organic matter, and neutral detergent fiber intake did not differ between the 2 diets. The apparent digestibility of DM, organic matter, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber were, respectively, 5.7, 4.0, 15.7, and 14.8% lower for the SAIN diet. Methane production per kilogram of DM intake was lowest for the SAIN diet, CH4 production as a percentage of gross energy intake tended to be lower, and milk yield was greater for the SAIN diet. Nitrogen intake, N retention, and energy retained in body protein were greater for the SAIN than for the CON diet. Nitrogen retention as a percentage of N intake tended to be greater for the SAIN diet. These results suggest that inclusion of sainfoin silage in dairy cow rations reduces CH4 per kilogram of DM intake and nutrient digestibility. Moreover, sainfoin silage improves milk production and seems to redirect metabolism toward body protein accretion at the expense of body fat.

Benefits of Condensed Tannins in Forage Legumes Fed to Ruminants: Importance of Structure, Concentration, and Diet Composition

“…Cattle fed a grass-sainfoin (mixture of Zeus and Esparcette accessions) silage or sheep grazed on big trefoil ('Maku') partitioned energy towards protein synthesis, rather than lipid synthesis, compared with grass-corn (Zea mays L.) silage and white clover diets, respectively (Purchas and Keogh, 1984;Huyen et al, 2016a). Cattle fed a grass-sainfoin (mixture of Zeus and Esparcette accessions) silage or sheep grazed on big trefoil ('Maku') partitioned energy towards protein synthesis, rather than lipid synthesis, compared with grass-corn (Zea mays L.) silage and white clover diets, respectively (Purchas and Keogh, 1984;Huyen et al, 2016a).…”

“…Sainfoin and birdsfoot trefoil diets reduced bacterial biohydrogenation in the rumen, increased unsaturated fatty acid contents in milk, cheese, and meat products, and reduced indole and skatole in lamb meat (Priolo et al, 2005;Schreurs et al, 2007;MacAdam and Villalba, 2015;Girard et al, 2016aGirard et al, , 2016bHuyen, 2016;Huyen et al, 2016a). Skatole and indole were associated with "fecal" flavor characteristic of pasture-fed products and originated from amino acid degradation by Clostridium aminophilum (Attwood et al, 2006), which was relatively sensitive to CTs .…”

Invited

“…Tannins have been reported to prevent bloat, exhibit anthelmintic properties, reduce enteric methane emissions and nitrogen (N) losses, improve fatty acid profile in milk and meat, and seems to alter energy partitioning (Purchas and Keogh, 1984;Mueller-Harvey, 2006;Girard et al, 2016;Huyen et al, 2016). Changes in fat deposition in lamb receiving lotus (Lotus pedunculatus; Purchas and Keogh, 1984) and changes in energy partitioning in sainfoin fed dairy cows (Huyen et al, 2016) suggest condensed tannins may have a role in re-directing metabolic pathways in ruminants. Literature reports that tannins can be digested and absorbed, and after phase II metabolism can provide biologically active metabolites.…”

The Occurrence, Biosynthesis, and Molecular Structure of Proanthocyanidins and Their Effects on Legume Forage Protein Precipitation, Digestion and Absorption in the Ruminant Digestive Tract

“…Substituting 50% of grass silage with sainfoin silage in a total mixed ration for dairy cows was found to reduce methane yield [147]. Up to 2% quebracho proanthocyanidin mixed in the diet of beef cattle did also not lower methane emissions [148].…”