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Comparison Of Different Maize Hybrids Cultivated And Fermented With Or Without Sorghum, Sz. Orosz, Z. Bellus, Zs. Kelemen, E. Zerényi, J. Helembai

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In Hungary our key forage crop is silage maize, however, the joint growing of maize and sorghum is increasingly important in arid regions. The reason is, that sorghum varieties tolerate well the various ecological stresses (drought). The joint growing of maize and sorghum varieties has several advantages and disadvantageous in respect of yields, safety of production, fermentability of the crop and nutrient content of the silage. The basis of realising the complementary qualities of the two crops and of the successful joint growing and preservation is the suitable pairing of hybrid varieties.

Utilisation Of Coffee Grounds For Total Mixed Ration Silage, C. Xu, Y. Cai, N. Hino, N. Yoshida, M. Ogawa

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the beverage industry, wastes from coffee grounds are of particular importance given their rapid increase in recent years. Although a small part is converted into raw compost material, wastes generated from tea grounds are generally incinerated. There is increasing demand for efficient use of by-products due to economic and environmental concerns. Approximately 200,000 t of coffee grounds are produced annually in Japan. These grounds usually have high protein, fat, fibre, and nitrogen-free extract and possibly could be a source of nutrients for ruminant (Xu et al., 2004). The objectives of this study were to evaluate the fermentation characteristics …

Forage Preferences Of Horses, C. E. Müller

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the northern climates the forage fed to horses has by tradition been hay. However, hay is subjected to moulding unless it is stored dry. Mould spores together with actinomycetes are responsible for the condition Recurrent Airway Obstruction (RAO), which is the second largest reason for culling of warm-blood horses in Sweden (Wallin, 2001). Therefore, the possibility of replacing hay with haylage and silage in the feed rations of horses is interesting. The objective of this study was to investigate the preferences among horses for different types of conserved grass, to gain more knowledge about the suitability of haylage and …

Harvesting Silage With Two Types Of Silage Trailer (Feed Rotor With Knives And Precision Chop), H. Arvidsson, P. Lingvall

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Harvesting silage with a silage trailer that combines both a precision chopper and a trailer in the same machine is common in Sweden. A silage trailer with a feed rotor and knives has recently been put on the market. The objective of this study was to compare the two systems

The Effect Of Neutralising Formic Acid On Fermentation Of Fresh And Wilted Grass Silage, E. Saarisalo, S. Jaakkola

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rapid drop in pH is essential for minimising proteolysis and successful ensiling. Use of acid additives typically reduces protein degradation and restricts fermentation. The effects of acid additive depend on application rate and type of herbage. Corrosiveness and risks in handling formic acid (FA) can be reduced by using salts of FA like ammonium formate (AF). Increasing proportions of AF replacing FA were applied into grass at two dry matter (DM) contents to evaluate the effects of neutralised FA on silage pH and fermentation.

Influence Of Different Alfalfa-Grass Mixtures And The Use Of Additives On Nutritive Value And Fermentation Of Silage, P. Lättemäe, U. Tamm

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Legumes have a high nutritive value but they are known to be difficult to ensile and often result in poorly fermented silage. This is usually due to high buffering capacity and low available sugar concentration. However, the results have shown that silage quality can considerably be improved by using additives or when legume-grass mixtures are ensiled (Lättemäe & Tamm, 2002). Different legume-grass mixtures differ in their ensiling properties and also may affect the fermentation. The objective of this experiment was to study the effect of alfalfa-grass mixtures and the use of additives on nutritive value and fermentation of silage.

Effect Of Biological Additives In Red Clover – Timothy Conservation, A. Olt, H. Kaldmäe, E. Songisepp, O. Kärt

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Red clover at early flower bud formation is difficult to ensile. For efficient improvement of the quality of leguminous silages, chemical additives are used. The present research focuses on the effectiveness of biological additives with different composition on the fermentation and quality of clover silage.

The Influence Of The Application Of A Biological Additive On The Fermentation Process Of Red Clover Silage, Ľ. Rajčáková, R. Mlynár, M. Gallo

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In Slovakia, mainly in the submontane and mountainous regions, growing of red clover is an important source of proteinous feeds. It is grown on 3.0% of arable land. It was the aim of this work to verify the possibilities of using a biological additive in red clover silage conservation.

Synergism Of Chemical And Microbial Additives On Sugarcane (Saccharum Officinaruml.) Silage Fermentation, T. F. Bernardes, G. R. Siqueira, R. P. Schocken-Inturrino, A. P. T. P. Roth, R. A. Reis

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Sugarcane has a high productive potential (30 t DM/year) and it is commonly used in its fresh form. The ensiling of sugarcane is increasing but little research has been carried out to reduce nutrient losses during fermentation.

In Vitro Gas Production And Bacterial Biomass Estimation For Lucerne Silage Inoculated With One Of Three Lactic Acid Bacterial Inoculants, F. E. Contreras-Govea, R. E. Muck, I. Filya, D. R. Mertens, P. J. Weimer

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Silages inoculated with microbial inoculants frequently have a lower pH than non-inoculated crops. Less often inoculated crops have a positive effect on milk production (Weinberg & Muck, 1996). One hypothesis is that bacterial inoculants produce a probiotic effect that could enhance animal performance (Weinberg & Muck, 1996). Our objective was to use the method of Blümmel et al. (1997) to study differences in in vitro fermentation among lucerne silages inoculated with three microbial inoculants.

Paying For Our Keep: Grasslands Decision Support In More-Developed Countries, Andrew D. Moore

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. A survey of decision support (DS) tools in grassland agriculture illustrates the diversity of decisions supported and of delivery technologies that are used. Larger, whole-enterprise planning tools are undergoing a period where their user interfaces are being adapted to better reflect the requirements and practice of advisory users.

2. The history of use of GrassGro, a ‘versatile simulator’, is used to illustrate how versatile tools attract a diverse range of users and uses. Lessons learnt by the GrassGro team are discussed.

3. Uptake rates of DS tools in grasslands are generally lower than was expected a decade …

Correlation Between Epiphytic Microflora And Microbial Pollution And Fermentation Quality Of Silage Made From Grasses, B. Osmane, J. Blūzmanis

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grass forage in Latvia is the main and inexpensive cow feed, however its composition and nutritive value differ during the growth period of grasses. The traits of grasses, their natural ensilage capacity, count of epiphytic microflora, the timing of harvest and ensilage making technology affecting the quality of grass silage are important issues to be studied. Silage making for the winter period is the treatment of green material to minimise the breakdown of nutrients being the results of biochemical and microbiological processes. The aim of the research was to clarify the methodologies to reduce the count of epiphytic microflora and …

Perennial Ryegrass Variety Differences In Nutritive Value Characteristics, T. J. Gilliland, R. E. Agnew, A. M. Fearson, F. E. A. Wilson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Animal grazing performance at grass is predominately determined by herbage intake rates, with high yielding dairy cows requiring up to 20 kg/d DM within a limited grazing time (Gibb, 1998). Grass nutritional factors such as seasonal patterns in digestibility and water-soluble carbohydrate levels have been linked to animal productivity (Davies et al., 1991), while sward surface height, herbage mass, bulk density and green leaf mass have been shown to promote high grazing intake (Barrett et al., 2001). Furthermore, fatty acid profiles have been shown to improve the unsaturated fatty acid composition of milk, with potential human health benefits …

Performance Of Meat Goats Grazing Winter Annual Grasses In The Piedmont Of The Southeastern Usa, J-M. Luginbuhl, J. P. Mueller

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the Southeastern United States, meat goats (Capra hircus hircus) are becoming increasingly important contributors to the income of many small producers. Meat goats perform well in grazing situations if grazing management practices match their grazing behavior. Nevertheless, little research data are available from the region specifically directed toward forage feeding programs for goats reared for meat production. Hart et al. (1993) reported that growing Alpine, Angora and Nubian kids grazed on high quality Triticum aestivum forage gained 50 g/d, whereas Kiesling et al. (1994) reported gains ranging from 65 to 141 g/d in growing Angora …

Optimising Financial Return From Grazing In Temperate Pastures, P. Dillon, J. R. Roche, L. Shalloo, B. Horan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key Points

1. The increased interest in pasture-based systems of milk production in recent years has been largely generated through lower product prices and rising costs of production.

2. Pasture based systems of milk production decrease unit production costs, through lower feed and labour expenses, and reduced capital investment.

3. Systems utilising grazed pasture will be optimised in regions where pasture production potential is high, variability in seasonal pasture supply and quality is low, manufacturing milk accounts for a large proportion of total production, and where large areas of land are available at relatively low cost.

4. Pasture based systems may allow greater global …

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Challenges And Opportunities For Animal Production From Temperate Pastures, D. A. Clark

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Temperate pastures offer a major opportunity to reduce the feed costs associated with ruminant production.

2. Pastures offer unique opportunities for producing high value components in feedstuffs that are beneficial to human health.

3. The increased use of pasture will not automatically lead to improved environmental outcomes – difficult challenges exist in reducing nitrogen and greenhouse gas pollution.

4. Grazed pasture systems offer advantages in animal welfare, provided management avoids the problems associated with climatic extremes, and the toxins associated with some pastures.

5. To remain competitive with total mixed ration systems, and environmentally acceptable, pastures with higher intake characteristics that allow …

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Decision Support For Temperate Grasslands: Challenges And Pitfalls, J. R. Donnelly, L. Salmon, R. D. H. Cohen, Zl. Liu, Xp. Xin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Successful adoption of decision support tools (DS tools) to address grassland management issues requires careful attention in design to ensure ease-of-use, accuracy in prediction and the flexibility to simulate actual practices.

2. DS tools must handle spatial variability and where possible include facilities for automatic sourcing of essential information for initialisation.

3. Advances in the development of DS tools will depend on resolution of scientific issues in grassland biology including investment in dedicated experiments to determine parameter values for model equations.

4. The use of mechanistic models, the integration of remote sensing technology and cooperation between research groups to develop modular …

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Modelling Of Herbage Intake And Milk Production By Grazing Dairy Cows, Rémy Delagarde, M. O'Donovan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key-points

1. Models predicting intake and performance of grazing ruminants from animal, sward, grazing and supplements characteristics are rare, but they are now included in several decision support systems (DSS).

2. An evaluation of the performance and accuracy of published models are rarely undertaken by their authors, but this is proposed in this paper.

3. There is still a need for experimental research but also for the development of generic and dynamic models to predict intake and performance over a wide range of grazing conditions.

Grass Growth Modelling: To Increase Understanding And Aid Decision Making On-Farm, P. D. Barrett, A. S. Laidlaw

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Crop and grass growth models have been developed over the last 50 years, or so, but general appreciation of their benefits and potential has been recognised only relatively recently. The most popular application of grass growth models has traditionally been for knowledge understanding.

2. There is growing awareness of the potential of models in decision support systems (DSS) applications to aid pasture management and grassland budgeting on dairy farms.

3. Although some models have been developed for DSS, their widespread uptake in industry has been slow; challenges still exist which need to be addressed in order to improve their precision …

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Genetic Characteristics Required In Dairy And Beef Cattle For Temperate Grazing Systems, F. Buckley, C. Holmes, M. G. Keane

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Only about 10% of the world’s milk is produced from grazing systems. Consequently the majority of dairy cattle have not been selected under grazing, nor on seasonal systems. This is not true for beef cattle, for which the majority, especially the dams, are managed under seasonal grazing systems.

2. In grazing systems daily feed intake is limited to lower levels than are achievable on concentrate plus conserved forage rations. Consequently, cows most suited to grazing environments are likely to have a lower genetic potential for milk production than cows selected in high concentrate systems, to minimise their relative energy …

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New Insights Into The Nutritional Value Of Grass, D. H. Rearte

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. The rumen environment in cattle grazing high quality forage is different to that reported for cattle fed indoors with diets based on processed feedstuffs.
2. Temperate pasture is an excellent source of nutrients for ruminants but a high energy:protein imbalance can occur when it is offered at the stage of optimal digestion.
3. Beef and milk produced on grass in temperate regions have a composition with nutritional advantages over beef or milk produced in indoor systems based on concentrate.
4. Increasing water soluble carbohydrate content of grasses would diminish environmental contamination by reducing the excretion of urea through the urine.
5. Increasing …

Plant And Sward Characteristics To Achieve High Intake In Ruminants, W. J. Wales, C. R. Stockdale, P. T. Doyle

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Intake is affected by complex interactions between signals from the digestive tract, intermediary metabolism and energy supply, and behavioural signals associated with learned behaviours or sensory signals.
2. The ideal sward needs to have characteristics that are similar to total mixed rations to achieve high intake and animal performance.
3. Genetic manipulation of plants may offer an accelerated rate of plant improvement, but benefits need to be demonstrated in a systems context.

Tris(1,3-Dichloro-2-Propyl) Phosphate Is A Metabolism-Disrupting Chemical In Male Mice, Sara Y. Ngo Tenlep, Megan L. Weaver, Jianzhong Chen, Olga A. Vsevolozhskaya, Andrew J. Morris, Cetewayo S. Rashid

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP) is an organophosphate flame retardant. The primary TDCPP metabolite, bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BDCPP), is detectable in the urine of over 90 % of Americans. Epidemiological studies show sex-specific associations between urinary BDCPP levels and metabolic syndrome, which is an established risk factor for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. We used a mouse model to determine whether TDCPP exposure disrupts glucose homeostasis. Six-week old male and female C57BL/6J mice were given ad libitum access to diets containing vehicle (0.1 % DMSO) and TDCPP resulting in the following treatment groups: 0 mg/kg/day, 0.02 mg/kg/day, 1 mg/kg/day, or 100 …

Abl1/2 And Ddr1 Drive Meki Resistance In Nras-Mutant Melanomas By Stabilizing Raf/Myc/Ets1 And Promoting Raf Homodimerization, Anastasia Lyon, Rakshamani Tripathi, Christina Meeks, Daheng He, Yuanyuan Wu, Jinpeng Liu, Chi Wang, Jing Chen, Haining Zhu, Sujata Mukherjee, Saptadwipa Ganguly, Rina Plattner

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Melanomas harboring NRAS mutations are a particularly aggressive and deadly subtype. If patients cannot tolerate or the melanomas are insensitive to immune checkpoint blockade, there are no effective 2nd-line treatment options. Drugs targeting the RAF/MEK/ERK pathway, which are used for BRAF-mutant melanomas, do little to increase progression-free survival (PFS). Here, using both loss-of-function and gain-of-function approaches, we show that ABL1/2 and DDR1 are critical nodes during NRAS-mutant melanoma intrinsic and acquired MEK inhibitor (MEKi) resistance. In some acquired resistance cells, ABL1/2 and DDR1 cooperate to stabilize RAF proteins, activate ERK cytoplasmic and nuclear signaling, repress p27/KIP1 expression, and drive RAF …

Adolescent- And Adult-Initiated Alcohol Exposure In Mice Differentially Promotes Tumorigenesis And Metastasis Of Breast Cancer, Mei Xu, Hui Li, Danlei Chen, Huaxun Wu, Wen Wen, Hong Xu, Jacqueline Frank, Gang Chen, Jia Luo

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Background: Alcohol exposure increases the risk of breast cancer. Alcohol consumption by adolescents is a serious social and public health issue. This study investigated the impact of adolescent alcohol consumption on mammary tumorigenesis and progression and compared it to that of adult alcohol exposure in animal models. Methods: Female adolescent (5 weeks) and adult (8 weeks) MMTV-Wnt1 mice were exposed to alcohol either chronically or acutely. For chronic alcohol exposure, animals were fed a liquid diet containing 6.7% ethanol for 23 weeks. For acute exposure, animals were treated with ethanol (2.5 g/kg, 25% w/v) via intraperitoneal (IP) injection for 15 …

Bilirubin Nanoparticle Treatment In Obese Mice Inhibits Hepatic Ceramide Production And Remodels Liver Fat Content, Zachary A. Kipp, Genesee J. Martinez, Evelyn A. Bates, Agil B. Maharramov, Robert M. Flight, Hunter N. B. Moseley, Andrew J. Morris, David E. Stec, Terry D. Hinds Jr.

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Studies have indicated that increasing plasma bilirubin levels might be useful for preventing and treating hepatic lipid accumulation that occurs with metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. We have previously demonstrated that mice with hyperbilirubinemia had significantly less lipid accumulation in a diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) model. However, bilirubin’s effects on individual lipid species are currently unknown. Therefore, we used liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) to determine the hepatic lipid composition of obese mice with NAFLD treated with bilirubin nanoparticles or vehicle control. We placed the mice on a high-fat diet (HFD) for 24 weeks and then treated …

Ifn-Γ Production By Brain-Resident Cells Activates Cerebral Mrna Expression Of A Wide Spectrum Of Molecules Critical For Both Innate And T Cell-Mediated Protective Immunity To Control Reactivation Of Chronic Infection With Toxoplasma Gondii, Yasuhiro Suzuki, Jenny Lutshumba, Kuey Chu Chen, Mohamed H. Abdelaziz, Qila Sa, Eri Ochiai

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

We previously demonstrated that brain-resident cells produce IFN-g in response to reactivation of cerebral infection with Toxoplasma gondii. To obtain an overall landscape view of the effects of IFN-g from brain-resident cells on the cerebral protective immunity, in the present study we employed NanoString nCounter assay and quantified mRNA levels for 734 genes in myeloid immunity in the brains of T and B cell-deficient, bone marrow chimeric mice with and without IFN-g production by brain-resident cells in response to reactivation of cerebral T. gondii infection. Our study revealed that IFN-g produced by brain-resident cells amplified mRNA expression for the molecules …

Water Resources, Agriculture And Pasture: Implications Of Growing Demand And Increasing Scarcity, M. W. Rosegrant, R. A. Valmonte-Santos, S. A. Cline, C. Ringler, W. Li

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

1. Water availability for irrigation is threatened in many regions by rapidly increasing demand for nonagricultural water uses in industry, households, and the environment. The scarcity of irrigation water will not only impact crop production, but also meat production, as much of the pasture used to feed livestock is irrigated.
2. Grassland is caught between two countervailing forces: a requirement for increasing meat demand that boosts the need for additional pasture to support livestock production, and rapidly increasing water scarcity that makes pasture irrigation uneconomical.
3. The most effective means of dealing with water scarcity is likely to be conserving water in existing …

Grasses As Biofactories: Scoping Out The Opportunities, Nick Roberts, K. Richardson, G. Bryan, Christine R. Voisey, W. Mcnabb, T. Conner, M. Christey, R. Johnson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

1. Plant biopharming is set to dominate commercial recombinant protein expression for specific proteins.
2. The choice of plant species depends on a multitude of factors and is determined on a case- by-case basis.
3. As a leaf based expression system grasses would have to compete predominantly with tobacco and alfalfa.
4. The grass-endophyte symbiosis offers a number of unique possibilities for biopharming.

Adoption Of Tropical Legume Technology Around The World: Analysis Of Success, H. M. Shelton, Steven Franzel, M. Peters

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

1. Examples of successful adoption of forage legumes are reported from all continents, where they delivered profitability and often provided multipurpose benefits to farmers.
2. Factors vital to successful adoption were: meeting the needs of farmers; building relevant partnerships; understanding the socio-economic context and skills of farmers; participatory involvement with rural communities; and long-term involvement of champions.
3. Organisation of seed supply, achieving scale-up and forming partnerships to implement adoption are key features.
4. Legumes remain an important but under-exploited resource for tropical farming systems. The alternative to legumes will be greater and more costly use of N-fertilisers and purchased protein concentrates.
5. The R&D …