Document Type
Article
Author ORCID Identifier
Laura A. Motsinger https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0574-0094
Allen Y. Young https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3073-6743
Ryan Fuez https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9464-201X
Kara J. Thornton https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7506-5293
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Translational Animal Science
Volume
5
Issue
3
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publication Date
6-2-2021
First Page
1
Last Page
11
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Abstract
Alfalfa is often included in the diets of beef animals; however, the nutrient content of alfalfa is variable depending on the region in which it is grown, climate, soil, and many other factors. The leaf portion of alfalfa has a less variable nutrient composition than the stem portion of the plant. The variability that is present in the alfalfa plant can make the development of total mixed rations of consistent nutrient content difficult. As such, the purpose of this study was to determine how the inclusion of fractionated alfalfa leaves and alfalfa stems impacts performance and carcass quality of finishing beef steers. Twenty-four steers were allocated to one of three treatments: a control group fed a typical finishing diet with alfalfa as the forage (CON; n = 8), a typical diet that replaced alfalfa with fractionated alfalfa leaf pellets and alfalfa stems (ProLEAF MAX™ + ProFiber Plus™; PLM+PFP; n = 8), or a typical diet that replaced alfalfa with alfalfa stems (PFP; n = 8) for 63 days. Steers were fed individually once daily, weighed every 14 days and ultrasound images were collected every 28 days. At the end of the feeding trial, steers were harvested at a commercial facility and carcass data was obtained. Analysis of dry matter intake demonstrated that steers receiving the PFP and CON diets consumed more feed (P < 0.001) than steers consuming the PLM+PFP diet. Steers receiving the PLM+PFP diet gained less (P < 0.001) weight than the steers receiving the other two dietary treatments. No differences (P > 0.10) in feed efficiency or carcass characteristics were observed. Steers receiving the PFP diet had improved (P = 0.016) cost of gain ($0.93 per kg) when compared with steers receiving PLM+PFP ($1.08 per kg) diet. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the inclusion of PFP in place of alfalfa hay in a finishing diet has the potential to improve cost of gain, without negatively affecting growth, performance, or carcass characteristics of finishing feedlot steers.
Recommended Citation
Laura A Motsinger, Allen Y Young, Ryan Feuz, Ryan Larsen, Tevan J Brady, Reganne K Briggs, Brett Bowman, Chris Pratt, Kara J Thornton, Effects of feeding a novel alfalfa leaf pellet product (ProLEAF MAX) and alfalfa stems (ProFiber Plus) on performance in the feedlot and carcass quality of beef steers, Translational Animal Science, Volume 5, Issue 3, July 2021, txab098, https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txab098
