A feeding trial was carried out to determine the effects of chromium methionine (Cr-Met) chelate and forage level over two years, 1st fattening and 2nd fattening period on growth parameters, carcass characteristics and blood metabolites of 46 Korean native (Hanwoo, Bos Taurus, BW = 183 ± 44 kg) steers. Treatments were: 1) Steers in the low forage (LF) group were fed diets that consisted of 60% concentrate and 40% forage; 2) Steers in the high forage (HF) group were fed diets that consisted of 40% concentrate and 60% forage. Following the 1st fattening period, steers (BW = 480 ± 37.6 kg) were randomly assigned to four treatment groups: LF (40 F plus no Cr-Met supplementation in the 2nd fattening period), LFCM (40LF plus added 400 ppb of Cr-Met during the 2nd fattening period), HF (60 F plus no added Cr-Met during the 2nd fattening period) and HFCM (60 F plus added 400 ppb of Cr-Met in the 2nd fattening period). Dry matter intake of the treatment diets did not differ during the raising and 1th fattening period (P > 0.05). The ADG in the raising period showed no difference between the 40 F and 60 F groups (P > 0.05). Carcass characteristics including rib-eye area and meat yield index were higher in HF than the other treatment groups (P < 0.05). The HF group tended to show a higher (P = 0.08) marbling score than the LF group whereas the HFCM group showed a higher marbling score than the LFCM group (P < 0.05). HDL was higher and LDL lower in groups fed with Cr-Met than in other groups whereas glucose showed the lowest value in HF group (P < 0.05). Triglyceride (TG), Cholesterol, PUN and total protein (TP) were the same among all treatment groups (P > 0.05). The Insulin concentration in the blood was significantly higher for the HFCM group than for the LF, LFCM and HF groups (P < 0.05). It is concluded that supplementation of chromium-methionine chelate could improve meat quality in beef steers.

The deleterious effects of heat stress on animal health are being increasingly recognized. This study aimed to determine hair cortisol (HC) and serotonin levels in lactating Holstein cows under heat stress conditions with different coat and hair-cut color. Forty-five multiparous lactating Holstein cows (days in milk = 130 ± 47, body weight = 753 ± 85 kg) were divided to two main groups of over 80% black coat color (BC) and over 85% white coat color (WC) visually observed based on registry certificates and subdividing to black hair sample (BH) and white hair samples (WH) in 2 × 2 factorial arrangements. Hair samples were taken from the forehead of the individuals. Higher HC levels were observed in BC than WC cows (P < 0.05). No differences were found in HC levels between BH and WH groups (P > 0.05). Serotonin levels showed no difference between BC and WC (P > 0.05). Interaction between coat color and hair color was not significant (P > 0.05). The cortisol levels in hair are not affected by pigmentation. However, pigmentation within the coat alters cortisol levels. In conclusion, white coat color retains less cortisol than the black coat. Therefore, white coats are preferable for dairy cows under heat stress conditions.

The purpose of this research is to identify the significance of climate factors related to the significance of change of dry matter yield (DMY) of whole crop maize (WCM) by year through the exploratory data analysis. The data (124 varieties; n=993 in 7 provinces) was prepared after deletion and modification of the insufficient and repetitive data from the results (124 varieties; n=1027 in 7 provinces) of import adaptation experiment done by National Agricultural Cooperation Federation. WCM was classified into early-maturity (25 varieties, n=200), mid-maturity (40 varieties, n=409), late-maturity (27 varieties, n=234) and others (32 varieties, n=150) based on relative maturity and days to silking. For determining climate factors, 6 weather variables were generated using weather data. For detecting DMY and climate factors, SPSS21.0 was used for operating descriptive statistics and Shapiro-Wilk test. Mean DMY by year was classified into upper and lower groups, and a statistically significant difference in DMY was found between two groups (p<0.05). To find the reasons of significant difference between two groups, after statistics analysis of the climate variables, it was found that Seeding-Harvesting Accumulated Growing Degree Days (SHAGDD), Seeding-Harvesting Precipitation (SHP) and Seeding-Harvesting Hour of sunshine (SHH) were significantly different between two groups (p<0.05), whereas Seeding-Harvesting number of Days with Precipitation (SHDP) had no significant effects on DMY (p>0.05). These results indicate that the SHAGDD, SHP and SHH are related to DMY of WCM, but the comparison of R 2 among three variables (SHAGDD, SHP and SHH) couldn't be obtained which is needed to be done by regression analysis as well as the prediction model of DMY in the future study.

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to determine the effect of adding water to total mixed ration (TMR) on fresh water intake, nutrient digestibility, wool cortisol, and blood indices in Corriedale ewes under hot and humid conditions.MethodsNine non-pregnant Corriedale ewes (ave. body weight = 41±3.5 kg) were individually fed diets based on maintenance requirements in metabolic crates. Ewes were assigned to three treatment groups according to a triplicate 3×3 Latin Square design for 3 periods of 21 days duration each (9 ewes per treatment, 27 replications). Treatments were TMR (crude protein [CP] = 16.1, total digestible nutrients = 69.1%) moisture levels for 40%, 50%, and 60%.ResultsNo differences were found in body weight gain among all treatment groups (p>0.05). Nitrogen balance including digestible N, retained N, and urinary and fecal N showed no change among the treatment groups (p>0.05). Fresh water intake was the lower in 50% TMR moisture group than in the other groups (p<0.05). Other than ether extract which was higher in 60% TMR moisture group (p<0.05) the differences among nutrient digestibilities including CP, organic matter, dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and non-fiber carbohydrate were not significant (p>0.05). No significant difference was observed for serum protein, blood urea nitrogen, glucose, and triglyceride among the treatment groups (p>0.05). Wool and blood cortisol were not different among the treatment groups (p>0.05). Blood hematology including red blood cell, white blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, basophils, and eosinophils were not different among the treatment groups (p>0.05).ConclusionIt is concluded that TMR moisture at 40%, 50%, and 60% had no effects on N balance parameters, and nutrient digestibilities except for the ether extract under hot and humid conditions. Additionally there were no effects on stress conditions include wool cortisol, as well as blood cortisol levels of ewes.

The objective of this study was to compare the fatty acid (FA) profile of cheese and milk produced from cows grazing on timothy and reed canarygrass pasture or fed indoor. Twenty multiparous dairy cows were selected from a single farm in Pyeongchang (South Korea) and assigned to two experimental groups (TMR and PAST). TMR was kept indoor and fed with a total mixed ration, while PAST was maintained on timothy and reed canarygrass (70%–30%) pasture for 5 months (beginning of June–end of October). At approximately 6‐day interval during this period, Montasio‐type cheeses were produced for each experimental group, and at the same day, bulk milk for each group was collected. Chemical composition and FA profile of cheeses and milk and the texture of cheeses were carried out. The diet affected milk fat content, which was higher in PAST than in TMR (p < 0.05). The pasture feeding increased C18:0 (p < 0.01), C18:1n‐9cis (p < 0.01), C18:3n‐3 (p < 0.05), monounsaturated FA (p < 0.05) and n‐3 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA, p < 0.05), and reduced C12:0 (p < 0.01), C16:0 (p < 0.01), C18:2n‐6cis (p < 0.05), C20:3n‐6 (p < 0.05), saturated FA (p < 0.05) and n‐6:n‐3 PUFA ratio (p < 0.01) of both milk and cheese compared with those of TMR. From FA composition point of view, pasture‐based feeding system increased the healthiness of dairy products.