The Canadian livestock feed industry considers starch levels and their associated energy levels in feed wheat to be more important than protein, according to an industry-wide study conducted this winter.
The study surveyed members of the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada’s Nutrition Council, which is made up of 100 livestock nutrition specialists who formulate and set standards for the feed sold by the companies they represent.
The survey was carried out in conjunction with Winter Cereals Canada as a way to give plant breeders a better idea about future variety requirements as Canada moves toward the new general purpose wheat classification system.
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Livestock nutritionists are asking for higher starch levels in feed wheat at the same time that an expanding ethanol industry is also asking for more starch.
“Breeders should concentrate on yield to increase producer profitability,” said the survey’s summary.
“With increased competition for starch from the ethanol industry we need more volume overall to meet needs.”
The message delivered by the feed industry this winter is an almost perfect fit with the message from the ethanol industry. More than 91 percent of the animal nutritionists said starch was more important than protein if a plant breeder has to make a choice between the two factors.
On a rating scale of one to 10, high energy levels were near the top, with 9.5 as the nutritionists’ average score.
When asked what they thought the lowest acceptable protein level might be in feed wheat, the average low was 9.8 percent protein, with 80 percent of the nutritionists agreeing protein could be 10 percent or lower. The lowest suggested protein was six percent while the highest suggested level was 12 percent.
The survey also quizzed nutritionists about their opinion of crude protein requirements in feed wheat. On the rating scale of one to 10, more than half the respondents indicated crude protein had a value less than two, meaning that they felt crude protein should not be a major consideration in future feed wheat variety programs. Only three respondents said crude protein was important.
While energy remains the most expensive component in a feedstock, the next big cost is amino acids. On the one to 10 rating scale, amino acid rated 5.36.
There was more concern about the variability than the actual content of amino acids. The general feeling was that lower crude protein cereals with less variation and with a known amino acid profile would be easier to manage than a cereal with extreme variations in protein.
“The amino acid profile needs to be consistent with minimal variability,” the report said.
“It is important that the amino acid regression equations currently available to the industry be applicable to new varieties in order that amino acid profiles can be adjusted by nutritionists as total protein varies from year to year.”
Fusarium resistance scored nearly as high as energy requirements on the one to 10 scale, with an average rating of 9.32. This high number indicates that animal nutritionists place a high value on fusarium resistance in future feed wheat breeding programs.
Novel traits such as low phytate scored low, with a rating of 3.64. Respondents said commercial phytase enzymes are readily available and relatively inexpensive, thus eliminating this criteria in the breeding programs.
The same low 3.64 score was registered on the question of hard wheat versus soft wheat for milling feed. Although this average indicated a low priority, 20 percent of the respondents strongly favoured hard varieties to ensure good grinding and pelleting characteristics.
The issue of using blue or purple pigment to distinguish feedstocks from export stocks prompted considerable dissension. The main concern was that coloured grain would raise consumer concerns about the colour of eggs yolks and poultry meat.
Two-thirds of nutritionists scored this issue as a four rating or lower, but the other one-third said it is significant.
