Increasing nutrient digestibility in cow diets using new soybean varieties of Altai and Far Eastern selective breeding

Abstract

One of the main problems of commercial dairy farming is the energy deficit after calving and in the initial period of milking which subsequently undermines the potential for milk producing ability of cows. The use of energy supplements from imported raw materials (protected fats, propylene glycol, glycerin, etc.) is economically ineffective due to the high costs and the concentration percentage (more than 70%) of palmitic fatty acid. The researchers of the Grain Legume and Forage Crop Selective Breeding Laboratory of the Federal Altai Scientific Center of Agro-Biotechnologies study new high-yielding, early maturing, semi-determinate soybean varieties with high fat content (more than 24%) and high level of transition (protected) protein. In this regard, the varieties of Altai and Far Eastern selective breeding Alpetra and Alfa are of scientific and practical interest in dairy cow nutrition as energy feed supplements. The fat contained in the full-fat extruded soybean contains polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic and linolenic acids, and provides a high energy value of the product. Therefore, the development and use of full-fat extruded soy in the energy-protein-mineral-vitamin supplement is a very promising and modern direction in feed production. The use of a feed supplement containing full-fat extruded soybean in a compound feed concentrate with the introduction of 5% increased the digestibility of dry matter by 4.6 rel. %, crude protein - by 3.6 rel. %, NDF for organic matter - by 4.9 rel. %, potentially digestible NDF - by 2.3 rel. %, and starch digestibility in the rumen and after the rumen.