--Boundary_(ID_cmLz/fUcWUEMKqiMHbGWIA)
Good Afternoon List Friends.
The snip below is taken from the AnimnalNet email clipping service from
the University of Guelph. It reports that the Canadian Cattlemen's
Association (CCA), with support from the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation
Program (GHGMP) will be publishing a manual designed to help cattle
producers understand and use the several benefits of including vegetable
oils in the diets of their livestock.
More information on GHGMP initiatives can be found on the website:
http://www.jpcs.on.ca/biodiversity/ghg/news/releases.html
Regards
Ross Gould, P.Ag. Retired
Calgary, Alberta
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: AnimalNet June 8/04
Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:49:33 +0000
From: Doug Powell <dpowell@uoguelph.ca>
Reply-To: dpowell@uoguelph.ca
To: ANIMALNET-L@listserv.uoguelph.ca
<http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca>
AnimalNet June 8/04
Vegetable oil adds value to livestock rations <#story0>
<#story1>
Vegetable oil adds value to livestock rations
June 8, 2004
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program for Canadian Agriculture
Administered by the Canadian Cattlemen's Association
www.cattle.ca
Calgary, Alta.: Canadian beef producers will soon have access to
a comprehensive manual explaining how domestically-produced vegetable
oils can be a valuable, economical ration supplement providing both
energy and protein.
Along with benefiting the environment, feeding canola, flax, sunflower
or soybean oil can improve the nutritional quality of meat and milk
products.
"Using more edible oils in livestock rations will have a significant
impact on both the beef and oilseed industries," says Vern Racz,
director of the Prairie Feed Resource Centre (PFRC) based at the
University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. PFRC has long-supported
research in the use of supplemental oils in rations and is now
co-ordinating production of the manual. The how-to manual is one of
several projects championed by the Canadian Cattlemen's Association and
funded by the federal Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program for Canadian
Agriculture (GHGMP).
Oil, either raw oilseed or processed oil, is a dense and highly
digestible energy source for ruminant animals, says Racz. Improved
digestibility reduces the amount of methane gas produced in the rumen.
Feeding trials with supplemented oil diets show a reduction in methane
gas production of up to 33 percent.
Along with the manual, PFRC and partners are currently developing a
proposal to establish at least two on-farm feeding sites in Alberta and
Saskatchewan, to demonstrate the practical, economic and environmental
benefits of adding various oilseeds and/or oil to conventional grain and
forage-based feed rations.
Various livestock researchers across Western Canada have found feedlot
cattle supplemented with edible oils in the diet produce 22 to 33
percent less methane gas. "The rumen is the source of the majority of
the Canadian beef industry's greenhouse gas emissions," says GHGMP Beef
Co-ordinator, Pat Walker. "Research has identified the ability of edible
oils to significantly reduce methane emissions from the rumen. But the
fact that there are potential co-benefits related to herd health and
carcass quality makes the project of even more interest to beef producers."
"There are tremendous economic benefits for both the livestock and the
oilseed industries," says Racz. "We've been looking at adding oil to
rations for the past 10 years. The research is out there and we know how
to do it. Now we need to bring all that information together in a manual
that feeders, cow/calf producers can use."
For beef producers, oil supplemented rations could create new marketing
opportunities. The oil and fat affects the quality characteristics of
milk and meat. Added fat in the diet has a positive effect on levels of
nutritionally important fatty acids, such as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA)
and congulated linoleic acid (CLA). The type of oil fed, whether it is
canola, flax or sunflower, affects the fatty acid composition differently.
ALA and CLA have important human health benefits. ALA helps prevent
heart disease, while CLA enhances the immune system, increases the
metabolic rate and helps prevent cancer.
"Added oil alters the fatty-acid composition of meat and milk, which
presents an opportunity to produce products with specific quality
characteristics," says Racz. "For example, producers could have the
opportunity to produce higher value 'designer beef'."
At the same time, Racz says, increasing the fat content in rations will
provide canola, flax, sunflower and soybean producers across the country
with a larger domestic market for a wide range of oil types and grades.
A co-ordinator has been hired to assemble relevant research literature
on oilseed use in cattle diets, while researchers at the Agriculture and
Agri-Food Canada Brandon and Lethbridge Research Centres will co-author
the manual. The manual should be available by mid-2005.
The GHGMP supports a broad range of projects across Canada with the goal to
promote awareness of agricultural practices that reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. The Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA) administers the
delivery of the beef sector component of the program. For more
information on this project and other beef sector activities, visit the
CCA's Web site: www.cattle.ca.
