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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Livestock Nutrient Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #109127

Title: EFFECT OF BOVIPRO ON PERFORMANCE AND SERUM METABOLITES CONCENTRATIONS OF BEEF STEERS

Author
item CHIRASE, NORBERT - TAES
item GREENE, L - TAES
item MCCOLLUM, TED - TAEX
item AUVERMANN, BRENT - TAES
item Cole, Noel

Submitted to: American Society of Animal Science Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Humates are mixtures of naturally occurring high-molecular weight complex polymers that contain biologically active and inactive properties. Humates seem to have a role in soil fertility and plant nutrition, but their potential role in animal nutrition has not been studied extensively. This research study was conducted to determine the effects of a commercial humate product on the performance of cattle fed a high-concentrate finishing diet. Feeding the humate product at concentrations as high as 3.1% of the diet did not significantly affect animal performance. These results indicated that the feeding of humates may not adversely affect beef cattle. However, the feeding of humates did not improve animal health or performance.

Technical Abstract: Forty-eight (48) crossbred (Brangus x Gelbvieh) steers (average weight 293 kg) were provided by The Noble Foundation of Ardmore, OK, for this study. The steers were allotted randomly by initial body weight into four groups and fed diets containing 0 (control), .78, 1.56 or 3.12% Bovipro for 56 d. Steers were weighed on d 0, 28 and 56, and blood samples were taken on d 0 and 28. Serum Ca concentrations of steers fed 1.56% Bovipro were greater (P<.05) than those of controls and steers fed .78% Bovipro. Serum hemoglobin concentrations increased (P<.05) with increasing dietary Bovipro concentrations. All other serum metabolites concentrations did not differ (P>.05) and were within normal ranges. The results indicate that during the first 28 d, feed intake, the total weight gains did not differ (P>.05) among treatments. The rate of gain by the steers fed control, .78, 1.56, and 3.12% Bovipro were 1.46, 1.53, 1.52 and 1.36 kg/d, respectively. Steers fed .78% Bovipro utilized 12.1% less (P>.05) feed per pound of weight gain than the control steers. These results suggest that dietary Bovipro is acceptable by beef cattle, but the optimum level of Bovipro needs to be determined.