Wheat middlings in high-concentrate diets: feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, nutrient digestibilities, passage rates, and ruminal metabolism in finishing steers.

Abstract

We conducted two experiments to determine the feeding value and effects on diet digestibilities, passage rates, and ruminal metabolism of wheat middlings (WM) fed as a replacement for either the concentrate or roughage components of finishing diets of steers. In Exp. 1, 120 medium-framed steers were blocked by weight and randomly allocated to one of six treatments of high-concentrate diets: control (0%); 5, 10, or 15% pelleted WM replacing dry-rolled corn (DRC); and 5 or 10% pelleted WM replacing chopped alfalfa hay (ALF) components of the diet. Increasing WM replacement of DRC increased DMI (P < .01) and feed:gain ratio (FG; P < .05) linearly. A 9.2% increase in daily DMI and 10.1% increase in FG were observed at 15% of WM. Daily gain and final weight of the steers were not influenced by WM replacement of DRC. The WM replacement of ALF decreased (P < .01) daily DMI linearly, but it had no effect on ADG, final weight, or FG. In Exp. 2, six medium-framed steers, fitted with ruminal cannulas, were used in a 6 x 6 Latin square design with the same treatments as described in Exp. 1. Dry matter, OM, and starch digestibilities decreased (P < .01) by increasing replacement of DRC with WM, and replacing ALF increased DM and OM digestibilities linearly (P < .01). Wheat middlings could replace only up to 5% of DRC without reducing feed conversion efficiency and diet digestibilities, but complete (100%) or partial (50%) replacement of ALF increased digestibilities of DRC finishing diets.

Effects of feeding wheat middlings on production, digestibility, ruminal fermentation and carcass characteristics in beef cattle

“…Brandt et al (1986) observed linear reductions in daily gain and feed efficiency for finishing steers when WM was substituted for corn in a 120 -d study using pelleted WM. Dalke et al (1997) reported no differences (P > 0.05) between treatments for hot carcass weight, backfat depth, quality grade, and dressing percentage, although marbling score was increased linearly with increasing WM in the diet. Our study showed similar results, with the exception of marbling score.…”

“…Blasi et al (1998), however, as previously stated, showed that ADG and FE decreased linearly as WM level increased in limit-fed diets. Dalke et al (1997) conducted an experiment to determine the feeding value and effect on finishing steer feedlot performance when WM replaced dry-rolled corn or chopped alfalfa hay. They concluded that WM could replace only 5% of the dry-rolled corn in the finishing diets without reducing feedlot performance.…”

“…For dairy cattle it has been fed as a part of the base diet (Bernard 1997), fed to replace alfalfa as a dietary fiber source (Depies and Armentano 1995), and fed at 15% of dry matter (DM) as a substitute for corn silage for lactating cows (Wagner et al 1993). Small grains are usually fed to beef cattle and the inclusion of by-product feeds such as WM for growing and finishing beef cattle has been studied in detail only recently (Brandt et al 1986;Dalke et al 1997;Blasi et al 1998;Hermesmeyer et al 2002). Wheat middlings have been fed ad lib and restricted to beef cattle and compared to corn-soybean-based diets and no detrimental effects were observed either in production or ruminal fermentation characteristics (Hermesmeyer et al 2002).…”

Consumo e digestibilidade dos nutrientes e desempenho de caprinos recebendo farelo grosso de trigo na dieta em substituição ao milho

“…Soares et al (2004), em pesquisa com níveis crescentes de farelo grosso de trigo (0, 33, 67 e 100%) em substituição ao fubá de milho para vacas leiteiras, também verificaram redução nos coeficientes de digestibilidade da matéria seca das dietas. Dalke et al (1997) avaliaram a substituição do farelo de trigo (5, 10 e 15%) por subproduto do milho e verificaram decréscimo linear nos coeficientes de digestibilidade da matéria seca e da matéria orgânica com o aumento dos níveis de farelo de trigo na dieta. Ao contrário, Dhakad et al (2002) avaliaram a substituição do fubá de milho por farelo de trigo em dietas para ovinos e não encontraram variações nos coeficientes de digestibilidade da matéria seca, matéria orgânica e dos carboidratos totais.…”

Consumo, digestibilidade aparente, produção e composição do leite de vacas leiteiras alimentadas com farelo de trigo

“…Estes resultados estão de acordo com Dalke et al (1997), que observaram decréscimo linear da digestibilidade da MS e MO quando o farelo de trigo substituiu o fubá de milho; entretanto, quando este substituiu o feno de alfafa, as digestibilidades aumentaram linearmente. Dhakad et al (2002), quando avaliaram a substituição do milho triturado (0, 50 e 100% da MS) por farelo de trigo na ração concentrada de ovinos em crescimento, constataram que as digestibilidades de MS, MO, PB, FDN, FDA e EE não variaram, indicando que a substituição do milho pelo farelo de trigo em níveis tão elevados quanto 100% não alterou a digestibilidade dos nutrientes.…”