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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Livestock Issues Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #425365
Research Project: Environmental and Management Influences on Animal Productivity and Well-Being Phenotypes

Location: Livestock Issues Research

Title: Effects of neutral detergent fiber concentration in dietary roughage and bulk density of steam-flaked corn on the prevalence and concentration of Fusobacterium necrophorum and Fusobacterium in the ruminal contents of...

Author
item DORNBACH, COLTEN - Texas Tech University
item MCDANIEL, ZACH - Texas Tech University
item Broadway, Paul
item NAGARAJA, T - Kansas State University
item AMACHAWADI, RAGHAVENDRA - Kansas State University
item Sanchez, Nicole
item GALYEAN, MICHAEL - Texas Tech University
item HALES, KRISTIN - Texas Tech University

Submitted to: Applied Animal Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/16/2025
Publication Date: 10/1/2025
Citation: Dornbach, C.W., McDaniel, Z.S., Broadway, P.R., Nagaraja, T.G., Amachawadi, R.G., Sanchez, N.C., Galyean, M.L., Hales, K.E. 2025. Effects of neutral detergent fiber concentration in dietary roughage and bulk density of steam-flaked corn on the prevalence and concentration of Fusobacterium necrophorum and Fusobacterium in the ruminal contents of.... Applied Animal Science. 41:473-481. https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2025-02714.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2025-02714

Interpretive Summary: Liver abscesses are of major economic concern for the cattle industry. Decreased live and carcass performance from liver abscesses lead to a $1 billion annual loss. Aggressive grain feeding has been proposed as a contributing factor for liver abscesses. Fusobacterium necrophorum is the most common bacteria found in liver abscesses and can also be found in the rumen. A study was conducted by scientists in Lubbock, TX and university collaborators using beef steers to study the influence of diet on Fusobacterium and liver abscesses. Rumen fluid from steers with and without a liver abscess were tested for Fusobacterium. While dietary changes did decrease liver abscesses, there was no link found between bacterial populations and diet. Future research is needed to evaluate links between Fusobacterium in the rumen and liver abscess formation. These data will be of interest to scientists in the field of cattle health and performance and beef producers.

Technical Abstract: Objective: We longitudinally assessed the effects of dietary roughage NDF concentration and bulk density of steam-flaked corn on F. necrophorum subsp. necrophorum, F. necrophorum subsp. funduliforme, and F. varium populations in the ruminal contents of finishing beef steers. Materials and Methods: Crossbred beef steers (n = 104; initial BW 417 ± 8.9 kg) were blocked by BW, assigned randomly to treatments, and fed for 118 d. Treatments were arranged as a 2 × 3 factorial with 5 pens/simple-effect treatment and consisted of 3 NDF concentrations from alfalfa hay (3, 4.5, or 6%) and 309 g/L (24 lb/bu) or 412 g/L (32 lb/bu) steam-flaked corn (SFC; 69 or 33% starch availability, respectively). Ruminal content samples were collected at the start of the finishing period and the day before harvest, and individual animal was the experimental unit for all variables. To determine the effects of dietary treatments and liver abscess (LA) prevalence on Fusobacterium concentrations and prevalence in ruminal contents, the PROC MIXED and GLIMMIX procedures of SAS 9.4 were used to evaluate binomial and continuous data, respectively. Results and Discussion: Liver abscess prevalence was greater for steers fed 3% roughage NDF from alfalfa hay compared with 4.5% and 6% (P < 0.01). As bulk density increased from 309 g/L to 412 g/L, LA prevalence tended (P = 0.08) to decrease 11.1 percentage points. Roughage NDF and bulk density of SFC did not affect F. necrophorum subsp. necrophorum, F. necrophorum subsp. funduliforme, or F. varium prevalence (P = 0.43) or concentration (P = 0.20) in ruminal contents. Likewise, prevalence and concentration of F. necrophorum and F. varium did not differ between steers with or without LA regardless of experimental diet (P = 0.13). Implications and Applications: Although increasing roughage NDF from alfalfa hay and SFC bulk density decreased LA prevalence, these dietary changes did not significantly alter Fusobacterium prevalence or concentrations in ruminal contents. The lack of clear associations between Fusobacterium populations with dietary strategies or LA prevalence highlights the need to refine our understanding of microbial and dietary contributions to LA etiology. Future research should explore how interactions between feed intake patterns, dietary ingredients, and microbial competition contribute to LA risk.