USask research focuses on nutritional value diets for beef cattle

A recent research initiative at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) was aimed to develop a cost-effective and easily accessible nutritional diet for beef cattle.

A Sept. 11, USask Research News article by Erin Matthews highlights the remarkable work of USask Graduate Student Beatriz Montenegro, in her quest to identify affordable and readily available feed solutions for beef cattle producers.  

Research summary

Funded by the Government of Saskatchewan’s Agricultural Development Fund, Montenegro has been conducting research on new beef cattle diets over the past year.

“There are so many little biochemical details and intricacies you can investigate and tweak to get results,” Montenegro states. “From a producer’s point of view, if you make a small change in an animal’s diet, you can get tangible changes in the animal.” 

Diet changes can affect meat composition, including marbling in cattle, which is important for determining the quality of the meat, as many producers aim to produce Prime beef with abundant marbling.

According to the article, Montenegro recognized the potential for utilizing cost-effective byproducts from wheat and oil crops, as this strategic approach can help ease the economic strain caused by high feed prices.

“Our research team wanted to see if we can take advantage of using these crop byproducts, which are economical and widely available in Western Canada, and include them in beef cattle diets without compromising growth performance,” she states. 

USask findings

Montenegro was particularly interested in wheat straw, a widely available and cost-effective crop byproduct with lower nutritional value compared to average feed, but feeding beef cattle only wheat straw has its limitations. 

“A similar comparison would be to feed only lettuce to a high-performance athlete,” she says. “It has a lot of fiber but not a whole lot of nutrition by itself.”  

During the research project, Montenegro added in fats from other crop byproducts, such as canola or flax screenings, to improve the nutritional profile of wheat straw.

Montenegro notes these fats not only work to supplement the beef cattle’s diet, but can also reduce the production of methane. 

“I hope to provide a more inclusive picture of different diets for producers by looking at beef cattle performance, economics, greenhouse gas emissions and how diets are digested,” she continues. “Helping producers improve operational efficiencies and increase animal health and welfare is really important for me as a researcher.” 

Benefits of canola in cattle health

In another USask research project, funded by the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission, the Beef Cattle Research Council, Alberta Beef Producers, the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, USask Graduate Student Erika Cornand led an investigation into canola seed supplementation.

“When packaged into a pellet form, canola seeds can be used as a fat supplement easily provided to cows in their diets,” Cornand states. “Our preliminary results suggest providing the canola seed-based pellet during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy can improve body condition scores and the pregnancy rate of the cows.” 

She notes the study’s preliminary results are good news for beef producers who raise beef cattle and grain farmers who may have canola to discard.

“Rather than off-grade canola being sold at discounted rates, there is the possibility for grain producers to sell their product to beef cattle producers,” says Cornand. “There are potential benefits for the cow and her offspring which may carry over into economic profitability.”

Melissa Anderson is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.