Plant-based oils in cattle rations can improve digestibility, reduce methane gas emissions and enhance the nutritional content of meat, says an expert at the University of Saskatchewan.
Vern Racz, director of the Prairie Feed Resource Centre at the university, said the use of off-grade canola, flax, sunflowers or soybeans to replace animal-based fats and oils in livestock feed is proving to be quite economical.
He said increased levels of oil add energy to the diet but can also alter the fatty acid composition of the carcass. That can translate into specialty meat products or “designer beef” in the grocery store, said Racz.
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Alpha-linolenic acid and congulated linoleic acid enhance the immune system, increase the metabolic rate and help prevent cancer.
“It’s much healthier meat with a better balance of fatty acids,” he said.
Better for animal
Racz said oil contributes 2.25 times more energy to the animal diet than starch.
For the animal, these highly concentrated oils in rations reduce dust and minimize digestive upset.
He noted that diets high in grain can produce starch and often acidosis. Oil does not because it is more easily digested.
Racz expects oilseeds in feed, now widely used in dairy barns, will become increasingly commonplace in feedlots and cattle operations.
Research at Agriculture Canada centres in Lethbridge and Brandon has shown that up to 33 percent less methane gas is produced in animals on such diets.
Oil should account for no more than six percent of the total ration, said Racz.
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program for Canadian Agriculture are producing a manual on the economics of incorporating domestically produced vegetable oils into diets.
In addition, the centre and its partners plan to set up two feeding sites on the Prairies to demonstrate how to add oilseeds to conventional grain and forage-based feed.
