Feeding Bakery Former Foodstuffs and Wheat Distiller’s as Partial Replacement for Corn and Soybean Enhances the Environmental Sustainability and Circularity of Beef Cattle Farming

Abstract

The effects of the partial substitution of corn and soybean meals with bakery former foodstuffs (BFF) and wheat wet distiller’s grains (WDGs) on environmental sustainability, production performance, and health status were evaluated in beef cattle. Newly arrived Limousine beef heifers (n = 408) housed an intensive farm in Campagnatico (Grosseto, Italy) were balanced for initial weight and body conformation and then randomly divided in two groups: (i) Traditional corn–soybean meal diet; (ii) Circular diet with average as-fed 1.5 kg BFF and 1.5 kg WDGs as substitute for 1.6 kg corn and 0.3 kg soybean meal. The environmental impact of the diet was analyzed considering greenhouse gases emissions (GHG, kg CO2 eq), water (H2O, L), and land use (LU, m2) as well as consumption of human-edible feeds (HE, kg). The growth performance, feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass characteristics, apparent total tract digestibility (aTTD), and health status of heifers were evaluated. The Circular diet led to a reduction per kg of cold carcass weight (CCW) of 1.00 kg CO2 eq of GHG, 72.38 L of H2O, 1.20 m2 of LU, and 0.95 kg of HE (p < 0.0001). Growth performances, carcass characteristics, and health status were not affected (p > 0.05). Sugar and pectin aTTD were significantly higher (p < 0.0001) in the Circular group. Replacing traditional feed ingredients with BFF and WDGs reduced the environmental impact of the diet of fattening Limousine heifers and the food competition between humans and beef cattle in accordance with circular economy principles.

Defatted Black Soldier Fly Larvae Meal as an Alternative to Soybean Meal for Broiler Chickens

“…However, due to growing global demand for soybean meal (SBM), the price is continuously increasing, thus making SBM one of the most expensive components in typical non-ruminant diets [3]. In addition, soybean production is increasingly associated with change of land use (e.g., deforestation), resulting in a negative impact on the environment [4]. Although research has been carried out on the use of various European produced plant protein sources including field beans [5], distilled dried grains with solubles [6], sunflower meal [7] and rapeseed meal [8], there are still limits on the suitability of their amino acid profiles, nutrient availability and yield.…”

Circular Bioeconomy Practices in the Greek Pig Sector: The Environmental Performance of Bakery Meal as Pig Feed Ingredient

“…BM is already used in pig production, mainly during the first life stages, since it contains significant amounts of sugar, starch, and oil or fat, which contribute to its high level of energy. To this end, BM can be used as an alternative ingredient to replace part of the conventional corn and soybean meals, as well as other starch and protein sources, offering an opportunity to enhance sustainability in pig production while reducing the necessity of using specially designated agricultural land [21,31].…”