Soybean Meal Can Be Replaced by Faba Beans, Pumpkin Seed Cake, Spirulina or Be Completely Omitted in a Forage-Based Diet for Fattening Bulls to Achieve Comparable Performance, Carcass and Meat Quality

Keller, Magdalena; Reidy, Beat; Scheurer, Andreas; Eggerschwiler, Lukas; Morel, Isabelle; Giller, Katrin (2021). Soybean Meal Can Be Replaced by Faba Beans, Pumpkin Seed Cake, Spirulina or Be Completely Omitted in a Forage-Based Diet for Fattening Bulls to Achieve Comparable Performance, Carcass and Meat Quality Animals, 11(6), pp. 2-18. MDPI 10.3390/ani11061588

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The aim of the study was to investigate the complete substitution of imported soybean meal in beef cattle diets and the consequences on performance, meat, and adipose tissue quality. Thirty growing crossbred Limousin bulls, with an initial bodyweight of 164 ± 13 kg and 4.3 ± 0.3 months of age, were fed a grass/maize-silage based diet with little additional concentrate (0.5:0.3:0.2). Concentrates contained either soybean meal (positive control), faba beans, pumpkin seed cake, or spirulina (Arthrospira platensis), resulting in about 226 g crude protein (CP)/kg concentrate dry matter (DM) and 158 g CP/kg total diet DM. A grain-based concentrate providing just 135 g CP/kg concentrate DM and 139 g CP/total diet DM served as a negative control. Bulls of all groups had comparable average daily gains (1.43 ± 0.1 kg) and feed intakes (6.92 ± 0.37 kg). Carcass and meat quality did not differ among groups. The fatty acid profile of meat lipids was hardly affected. These results indicate that soybean meal can be replaced by any of the tested protein sources without impairing performance or meat quality. Importantly, bulls fed the negative control achieved a fattening and slaughter performance comparable to that of the protein-supplemented groups without affecting meat and adipose tissue quality. Thus, the present findings suggest that feeding crossbred bulls a grass/maize-silage based diet does not require additional protein supplementation.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Agriculture School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Agriculture > Grasslands and Ruminant Production Systems
Name:	Keller, Magdalena; Reidy, Beat0000-0002-8619-0209; Scheurer, Andreas; Eggerschwiler, Lukas; Morel, Isabelle and Giller, Katrin
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
ISSN:	2076-2615
Publisher:	MDPI
Language:	English
Submitter:	Andreas Scheurer
Date Deposited:	17 Aug 2022 11:22
Last Modified:	17 Aug 2022 11:22
Publisher DOI:	10.3390/ani11061588
Uncontrolled Keywords:	beef cattle; alternative protein sources; fatty acids; grass silage; sustainable production systems; microalgae
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.17445
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/17445