Jolley: Learning About DG’s & Cattle Feed With Lallemand’s Mark Corrigan
Mark Corrigan is the beef technical services manager at Lallemand Animal Nutrition.He just picked up his Ph.D. in Ruminant Nutrition from the University of Nebraska, one of the top agriculture schools in North America.Dr. Corrigan spent a considerable amount of time doing research examining the use of ethanol by-products in growing and finishing cattle, a field made even more important in the last few years with the increased importance of distiller’s grains and their effects on the feed efficiency delivered by dry-rolled, high moisture and steam flaked corn.
Using distillers grains is a relatively new practice that brings a lot of uncertainty to the feeding trough.There is a lot of variability in the nutritional content from region to region as well as from the supplier.Blending your choice of DG’s with corn at a specific ration can further compound the issue.With profitability at the feed yard often measured by the penny, maximizing the mix can make a major difference in how you walk into your banker’s office at the end of the month.
Dr. Corrigan’s university research was designed to determine the benefits and limitations Distillers grains bring to feed.He tested wet distillers’ grains plus solubles with dry rolled, high moisture and steam flaked corn in ratios of up to 40%.
“I found a linear improvement in efficiency up to that 40% mark with dry roll and high moisture corn based diets,” he said.“There was no improvement, though, with steam flaked corn based diets.”
His work at Lallemand has been with direct-fed microbials and their effect on the feed efficiency of those DG and corn mixtures and the control of pathogens like E. coli O157:H7, S. aureus, Salmonella, S. typhimurium and Pseudomonas.MICRO-CELL GOLD, Lallemand’s blend of Lactobacillus buchneri and two strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus, was developed to help improve the absorbable nutrient content of distillers’ grains and to control pathogens that are detrimental to feedyard performance and in some cases pose a human food safety risk.
Corrigan pointed out one of the major benefits of MICRO-CELL GOLD in today’s food safety conscious marketplace.“Research shows Lactobacillus acidophilus reduces shedding of E. coli O157:H7 and reinfection by Salmonella, as well as improves feed efficiency,” he said.
Lactobacillus buchneri, the other component of MICRO-CELL GOLD, improves the digestibility of xylans, the predominant fiber in corn, which becomes even more concentrated in ethanol byproducts and makes up a significant portion of modern cattle rations. Cattle can absorb more of the available carbohydrates without increasing their dry matter consumption, offering the possibility of saving dollars spent on the food ration.
Corrigan also cautioned cattle feeders that it’s important to know the makeup of distiller’s grains before you add it to your cattle ration.Corrigan said, “Often times the distillers’ solubles (syrup) contains a great more fat and sulfur than the distillers’ grains, so the amount of distillers’ solubles added back onto the grains will greatly influence the amount of fat and sulfur in the distillers’ grains plus solubles.”
He also mentioned that in the case of dried distillers’ grains overheating can reduce the digestibility of the protein.Color has often been used as an indicator of heat damage, with a darker color thought to indicate more extensive damage.However, Corrigan said that results from his Ph.D. research demonstrated that a darker color of distillers’ grains may indicate that the dried distillers’ grains contain a greater amount of distillers’ solubles with no impact on protein digestibility.
For more information, visit www.microcellgold.com or e-mail Dr. Mark Corrigan at mcorrigan@lallemand.com.Register online at www.racetofinish.net for a chance win a Richard Petty Driving Experience package.