Local alternatives in ruminant feeding.
Dear readers, in my country Venezuela beef is part of the diet of the population due to its adequate nutritional levels, the agricultural sector has a great potential for livestock exploitation, but despite this, sometimes livestock production units are very limited due to the high production costs for herd feeding, which makes it impossible to produce meat at low cost and therefore producers are forced to implement new livestock production practices.
In this sense, it is necessary to mention that good nutritional practices are essential to obtain a good production, since, according to Loubet (2000), animals need an adequate amount of nutrients for their growth, body maintenance and weight gain, among other aspects, for which, according to the same author, the diet must provide the animal with the energy, protein, vitamins, minerals and water to cover nutritional requirements.
In Venezuela, there are agricultural products such as the African palm (Elaeis guineensis) that have had a progressive boom, so it has been necessary to establish palm oil extraction plants in different areas of the country, where the fruit of this item is processed by mechanical extraction, therefore, in addition to obtaining the oil, an energy by-product is generated and marketed, In addition to obtaining the oil, the extraction plants generate and commercialize an energy by-product from the nut known as palm kernel meal or nepe with a high fiber content and lower fat values, information that has been collected by researchers from countries such as Costa Rica, Colombia and others.
It is worth mentioning that the by-product obtained from the palm fruit is emerging as a great alternative due to the high cost of concentrated feeds that are currently sold in the national and local market, since their manufacture depends on raw materials that are mostly imported, which makes these supplements even more expensive. Therefore, the use of palm kernel meal could be an excellent substitute for both beef and dairy cattle, since it is a local by-product that has a much lower cost compared to other concentrated energy feeds.
In conclusion, dear readers, palm kernel meal is a suitable ingredient for ruminant diets, which according to Ocampo (1994), can be used without problems at levels of up to 10%. The same author points out that due to the dark color of palm kernel meal, it may have problems of rejection by some livestock farmers; therefore, agricultural extension work should be carried out to promote this type of alternative, which can possibly also be used in swine.
| Bibliographic references |
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Loubet, R. O. (2000). Food Safety in the Field. From Diagnosis to Certification. Proceedings. First Congress on Food Safety and Quality. Guadalajara, Jalisco. México.
Ocampo, A. (1994). Utilization of African palm fruit as an energy source with restricted protein levels in the feeding of fattening pigs. Livestock Res. Rural Dev., 1: 1-7.
Greetings @amatyesi, thank you for bringing us such interesting information, the truth is that until today I thought that cattle were fed only with grass and I assumed (wrongly apparently) that only dairy cows were given some other type of additional food product, I appreciate the additional knowledge.
On the other hand ... nepe ?, for cows ?, wow !!, quite interesting that data.
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge about livestock my dear friend
Greetings dear friend @karupanocitizen, thank you for your valuable comment, currently we have resorted to a number of alternatives that may not be innovative but have been used very little, due to the high costs of concentrated feed and new forms of production have caused us to seek alternatives such as nepe for feeding, in my geographical area there are palm processing plants therefore you can get this raw material, in times of fodder shortage can also be used, because I particularly think that the best food that can consume a ruminant are the pastures.
See you later brother, have an excellent beginning of the week.
Hi @amestyj
What I see from this that you mention is that cattle could be fed in a natural way, and in this way production costs should be economized, plus they should be healthier, less chemical filled meat, and of course, cheaper.
It is a good option, which is why science is so important. Thank you for this information.
Hello @josevas217, the new production models together with the high costs of concentrated feed, have prompted agricultural researchers to seek alternatives for feeding ruminants, the cultivation of palm is a flagship item in our area and to use their waste is important because we would be taking low cost local resources that can be used in critical times when droughts are extensive and the yield of fodder biomass decreases.
See you later brother, have a great start of the week.
Greetings friend @amestyj, In the agricultural area, my knowledge is not very broad, but I know that to obtain a better profitability and performance of livestock, good nutrition is necessary, it is necessary to invest to improve their production and obtain better profits at the time of sale of biological assets, speaking in accounting terms, considering the economic relevance that this generates, thank you for sharing this topic.
Greetings my dear friend @chucho27, thank you for your valuable comment that adds an important factor to the topic such as the economic one, biological assets take value depending on the yield obtained and the expense we make to obtain such yield, we would be talking about productivity, if we use these alternatives in conjunction with grazing in the paddocks we could achieve a relative increase in cattle production.
See you later brother, have an excellent start of the week.
Hi @amestyj
What you mention "it is worth mentioning that the by-product obtained from the palm fruit is emerging as a great alternative due to the high cost of concentrated feed currently sold on the national and local market", is something that has been happening as an alternative way of reducing production costs. It is a pity that in the southern part of the lake some producers are resisting, no doubt more because of their mentality than anything else.
Best regards, be well.
Hello friend @lupafilotaxia, you mentioned something that is directly related to the culture of the producer, some are resistant to change, as they are immersed in the old production models, but science and extensionism should merge to promote these alternatives and show producers that they can get to reduce their production costs and that they are local resources at hand.
See you later brother, have a great start of the week.
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