Effect of substituting soybean meal and canola cake with dried distillers grains with solubles at 2 dietary crude protein levels on feed intake, milk production, and milk quality in dairy cows

Abstract

Dried distillers grain with solubles (DDGS) is an alternative source of feed protein for dairy cows. Previous studies found that DDGS, based on grains other than corn, can substitute for soybean meal and canola cake as a dietary protein source without reducing milk production or quality. As societal concerns exist, and in many areas strict regulation, regarding nitrogen excretion from dairy cows, the dairy industry has focused on reducing dietary protein level and nitrogen excretion. In the present study, we investigated the use of DDGS as a protein source, at a marginally low dietary crude protein (CP) levels, in a grass-clover and corn silage-based ration. The experiment involved 24 Holstein cows and 2 protein sources (DDGS or soybean-canola mixture) fed at 2 levels of CP (14 or 16%) in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of both protein source and protein level on feed intake, milk yield, and milk quality. The results indicated that feed intake, milk yield, and protein in milk increased when the protein level in the ration was 16% CP compared with 14%. We found no effect of substituting the soybean-canola mixture with DDGS. Moreover, no sensory problems were observed when comparing fresh milk with stored milk, and milk taste was unaffected by DDGS. Milk from cows fed DDGS had a slightly higher content of linoleic acid and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA 9-11), and lower content of C11 to C17 fatty acids than cows fed diets with the soybean-canola mixture. Cows fed the diets with 16% CP produced milk with higher oleic acids and lower palmitic acid content than cows fed 14% CP diets. To conclude, DDGS can substitute for a soybean-canola mixture without affecting feed intake, milk yield and quality, or sensory quality. Under the conditions of this experiment, feeding 16% CP compared with 14% CP in the ration can increase feed intake and milk production.

Feeding wheat dried distillers’ grains with solubles increases conjugated linoleic acid and unsaturated lipids in ovine milk without adversely affecting milk yield

“…The content of saturated FAs with less than 16 carbons were linearly reduced with increased DDGS proportion in the ewe diets, while the only saturated FA that came close to increase was C18:0 and this difference was not significant. These results are in line with those of a previous study in ewes (Cais-Sokolińska et al, 2015) and with many studies conducted in cows (Leonardi et al, 2005;Anderson et al, 2006;Sasikala-Appukuttan et al, 2008;Abdelqader et al, 2009;Hippen et al, 2010;Kurokawa et al, 2013;Gaillard et al, 2017aGaillard et al, , 2017b showing diminished de novo FA percentages and increased levels of long-chain FA (LCFA) as a result of DDGS dietary inclusion. The reduction of SFA in the present study was accompanied by a linear increase in total PUFA and MUFA with the increasing concentrations of DDGS in the a-c Means within a row not sharing a common superscript differ due to the different diet examined (P < 0.05), 1 Probability of significant effects due to diet (D), time (T), and their interaction (D × T); *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001, NS, Non-significant; †P < 0.1: tendency, 2 Other C18:1 cis = C18:1 cis-11; C18:1 cis-12; C18:1 cis-13; C18:1 cis-14; C18:1 cis-15, 3 SCFA = short-chain fatty acids (C4:0 to C8:0), 4 MCFA = medium-chain fatty acids (C10:0 to C16:1), 5 LCFA = long-chain fatty acids (C17:0 and above), 6 Atherogenic index = (C12:0 + 4 × C14:0 + C16:0)/(ΣMUFA + ΣPUFA),…”

“…Small increases (not always significant) have also been reported in some studies with lactating cows (Janicek et al, 2008;Chibisa et al, 2012;Benchaar et al, 2013) and it has been attributed to either the slightly increased energy density, due to higher fat content in DDGS diets, or to greater DM intake and, therefore, higher energy acquisition by the animals offered DDGS. Nevertheless, most cow studies with isoenergetic and isonitrogenous experimental diets, and similar intakes, as those applied in the present experiment, reported no effect on milk yield, when the applied inclusion level of DDGS was up to 30% DM (Abdelqader et al, 2009;Gaillard et al, 2017aGaillard et al, , 2017bTestroet et al, 2018) DDGS inclusion did not affect milk protein levels in the present study (Table 1), a fact that was also reported in a previous related study in sheep (Alshdaifat and Obeidat, 2019). Nonetheless, the results in previous studies with cows on the effect of DDGS on milk protein content are controversial, reporting either an increase (Testroet et al, 2015), or a decrease (Kleinschmit et al, 2006;Benchaar et al, 2013;Kurokawa et al, 2013), or no significant effect (Anderson et al, 2006;Janicek et al, 2008;Sasikala-Appukuttan et al, 2008;Chibisa et al, 2012).…”

“…Individual FA with a special interest for human health such as oleic, vaccenic, linoleic, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA cis-9, trans-11), were linearly elevated with the addition of 6% and 12% DDGS in diet DM (Table 2). Similar effects have been reported in studies that examined diets from 5 up to 20% DM inclusion levels of DDGS in cows (Kalscheur et al, 2012;Kurokawa et al, 2013;Gaillard et al, 2017aGaillard et al, , 2017b and also observed in ewes with low DDGS inclusion (3.5% in diet DM, Cais-Sokolińska et al 2015).…”

Factors Influencing the Flavour of Bovine Milk and Cheese from Grass Based versus Non-Grass Based Milk Production Systems

“…Shingfield et al [ 96 ] did not find any differences in pasteurized milk derived from grass (timothy and meadow fescue) silages with or without additives (formic acid, orthophosphoric acid and Enzymax) and hay (timothy and meadow fescue) using a trained descriptive panel ( Table 3 ). Gaillard et al [ 97 ] evaluated the impact of different protein concentrations (14% and 16%) in feed using different sources of protein (soybean meal canola caked and died distiller’s grains with solubles) on pasteurized milk quality. Using descriptive sensory analysis with a trained panel they found no significant sensory difference ( Table 3 ).…”

The impact of feeding corn dried distillers grains with solubles on milk yield and composition in lactating Awassi ewes and digestibility and N partitioning in Awassi ewe lambs

“…As feeds become more expensive and unavailable, and ethanol becomes more abundant and cheap, the use of DDGS as an alternative feed becomes more popular because of price. Dried distillers grains with solubles are rich in fibre, protein and fat and can be fed as a protein source (Gaillard et al 2017; B€ ottger and S€ udekum 2018) when fed at <150 gkg À1 DM or as an energy source when included at levels greater than 150 gkg À1 DM in ruminant diets (Klopfenstein et al 2008). It contains high levels of energy (3.67-4.34 Mcal/kg of DM) and fat (Engel et al 2008) in addition to being highly digestible, making it the most economical feed components for animals (Pecka-Kiełb et al 2015).…”