Nonstructural carbohydrates: how to increase their concentration in forages and how does it affect animal performance?
Forages have a low fermentable energy content. To use the non‑protein nitrogen in forages efficiently, microbes in the rumen need a readily available energy source. Increasing the energy content in forages has been the focus of our research. Our objectives were to 1) Develop crop management practices that promote energy accumulation in forages; 2) Assess the impact of high‑sugar‑content forage on the in vitro synthesis of microbial proteins, and on ingestion, nitrogen utilization efficiency, and dairy cow performance. The principal findings of this research are presented. We demonstrated that the choice of forage species and late‑afternoon mowing into wide swaths are potential ways to increase the sugar content in forages. This increase in the sugar content of forages results in an increase in the synthesis of microbial protein measured in vitro and, in most cases, results in an increase in ruminal propionate. High sugar content in forage is also associated with an increase as high as 5% in feed intake and milk production when cows are fed mainly higher‑sugar‑content forages.
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | spa |
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Asociacion Latinoamericana de Produccion Animal
2011
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.alpa.uy/index.php/ojs_files/article/view/2211 |
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