Abstract Summary:

“Seasonality in forage production may limit the quantity and quality of forage. Even when forage is available in the period of scarcity, protein might still be a limiting nutrient in animal performance. Feed supplementation is a powerful tool to adjust nitrogen (N) levels in the diet of ruminants during critical periods. Urea is commonly used as a source of non-protein nitrogen in molasses supplements. This dietary protein provides amino acids as well as nitrogen for microbial protein synthesis. Moreover, molasses has organoleptic characteristics, such as palatability, increasing dry matter intake, through microbial growth, especially for fiber-digesting bacteria. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of different levels of liquid supplementation based on molasses enriched with 32% crude protein (as fed; 45% on DM basis) on ingestion, digestibility, and rumen fermentation. The results of this study indicated that addition of a molasses-based liquid feed to a Hemarthria altissima hay-based diet can improve the nutrient supply to animals; notably, volatile fatty acids (VFA) and microbial N. Liquid supplementation had an additive effect on intake of animals fed Hemarthria altissima hay but did not increase hay intake.”

Citation: 

Abreu D, Dubeux JCB Jr, Queiroz LD, Jaramillo D, Da Silva Santos ER, van Cleef F, Vela-Garcia C, DiLorenzo N, Ruiz-Moreno M. Supplementation of Molasses-Based Liquid Feed for Cattle Fed on Limpograss Hay. Animals (Basel). 2022 Aug 29;12(17):2227. doi: 10.3390/ani12172227. PMID: 36077947; PMCID: PMC9454827.

 

For the full article, please follow the link below:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9454827/