Life Sciences Commons^™

Enhancing The Production And Sustainability Of Pasture-Fed Beef Using Non-Traditional Legume Forages, Andrea I. Bolletta

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Despite the increasing worldwide demand for beef as a protein source, consumers are concerned about the sustainability of ruminant production systems. Their main concerns are animal welfare for feedlot-fed animals, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, global warming and worker safety. Traditional feedlot-based beef production systems have been associated with locally greater levels of soil, water and air contamination, as well as the overuse of antibiotics and growth hormones. The use of legume pastures such as cicer milkvetch (CMV) and birdsfoot trefoil (BFT), which fix their own nitrogen (N) and often contain beneficial secondary compounds such as tannins and provide for rapid …

Influence Of Type Of Supplemental Carbohydrate On Ruminal Responses And Methane Output From Ruminants Consuming Low-Quality Forage, Raul J. Lira

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement, three energy supplements and two species (cows and ewes) were evaluated in two identical experimental periods: gestation and lactation. The three supplement treatments were a control, barley, and sugar beet pulp (SBP). The basal diet was tall wheatgrass straw (5.52% CP).

Forage and total dry matter intake (FDMI and TDMI, respectively) interacted (P=.04) with species, supplements, and physiological stages.

An interaction of physiological stage and sampling time occurred for pH. Supplement and sampling time interacted for butyric acid proportion and total VFA concentration.

Diet digestibility displayed an interaction between …