Similarly sized kernels make it easier to roll the barley, improving digestibility and feed value
Growing barley with uniform kernel size will improve its use as cattle feed.
That’s the message ruminant nutrition expert Tim McAllister of Agriculture Canada delivered to barley growers in Lethbridge Nov. 22.
Uniform kernel size allows cattle feeders to roll and temper barley for optimal use by ruminants. Although growing conditions, seeding rates, variety and disease load can influence kernel size, McAllister said breeding barley for uniform kernel size would increase the likelihood of producing superior cattle feed.
“That’s where I think the barley industry can make a huge difference in terms of feed value for cattle, is by producing barley that has a greater kernel uniformity, which will enable them to process it with greater precision,” he told members of the Alberta Barley Commission.
Read Also
Alberta crop diversification centres receive funding
$5.2 million of provincial funding pumped into crop diversity research centres
Barley is the foundation of the western Canadian feedlot industry and even with high feed prices, it is the most economical source of energy.
Unlike corn, barley doesn’t need supplemental protein to provide a healthy ration. Canadian barley is usually 12 to 14 percent protein, and 13 percent protein is ideal for growing feeder cattle, he said.
As silage, it is an important forage component, and barley straw is also valuable as bedding.
“It’s probably the most economical energy source we can feed to dry cows,” said McAllister.
He said that is one reason why growers and cattle feeders should be concerned about declining barley acreage. Canola does not make good cattle feed and dried distillers grain, a product of corn ethanol production, is unsuitable if it makes up more than 30 percent of cattle diets.
A higher percentage of DDG in rations reduces animal weight gain and becomes uneconomical, McAllister said.
Barley is also superior to corn in its internal structure, which allows rumen bacteria to break it down more easily. However, McAllister said processing is vital.
Cattle can digest up to 98 percent of barley starch if the tempered grain is put through a roller. That compares to only 18 percent if barley is fed as whole grain.
“In southern Alberta, we do not give corn a superior value to barley because we can’t process corn properly,” said the researcher.
“We don’t have steam flaking systems in our feed processing mills and in order to maximize the utilization of starch in corn, you need to be able to steam flake it.”
McAllister said studies have found no cattle production difference between two-row, six-row, malting or feed barley. Bushel weight is more of a factor than type, and cattle adjust intake according to the weight.
Cattle will ideally digest most of the barley in their first stomach, the rumen. However, that carries a risk of excessive acid production, which can cause acidosis.
Conversely, greater digestion in the other stomachs results in poor use of the feed because cattle won’t extract all the energy it could provide.
“Our producers are probably the best in the world at meeting that balancing act,” said McAllister.
