Dairy and Beef Cattle

1. Dairy and Beef Cattle Essential Nutrients and Feedstuffs

2. Nutrient: • Defined as a chemical element or compound needed to support the life of any animal • Six Essential Nutrients for All Animals: Carbohydrates, Protein, Fat, Vitamins, Minerals and Water

3. Carbohydrates: • Found in largest amounts in animal diets • Primary function is to provide energy for basic bodily functions • Also helps maintain body warmth and store fat • Feedstuffs: corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, sorghum

4. Protein • Amino acids are the basic building blocks of Protein • Funtions: • Development and repair of body tissues and organs • Produce milk and develop the fetus • Develop immune system and construct enzymes Feed sources of Protein: Soybean meal, fish meal, alfalfa, cottonseed hulls, barley, brewers grains

5. Fats • Fats provide 2.25 times the energy of carbs. • Fat=solid at room temperature • Oil=liquid at room temperature • Functions: source of energy, help absorb vitamins • Feedstuffs with Fats: corn, sorghum, barley and wheat

6. Vitamins • Needs in very small amounts in animal diets • Functions: • Regulate digestion and metabolism • Development of hair, bones and vision • Regulate body glands and form new cells • Protect animal from disease • Maintain nervous system Examples: A, D, E, K, B-complex

7. Minerals • Essential to support life but needed in very small amounts • Functions: • Develop teeth and bones • Construct body tissues • Aid in digestion of feedstuffs • Regulate body processes • Examples: Calcium, Sodium, Sulfur, Iron

8. Water • 70% of animal weight is water • Cannot live without water • Functions: • Regulate body temperature • Transport nutrients in bloodstream • Aid in digestion and metabolism • Maintain body shape • Eliminate waste products

9. Feedstuffs: • Defined as any ration ingredient provided to support life or increase productivity of the animal • 4 Major categories of feedstuffs: • concentrates • roughages • feed supplements • feed additives

10. Ration: • Amount of food required by an animal in a 24-hour period • Balanced Ration: a ration containing correct proportions of carbs, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and water

11. Concentrate Feedstuffs • Concentrates are high in energy (Carbs and fat) and low in fiber • Protein Supplements maybe added to increase protein levels • Examples: Corn, sorghum, oats, barley, wheat, and rye rations

12. Roughages • Roughages are low in energy and high in fiber • Legume: roughages that can take nitrogen from the air and use it for their own nutrition and eventually put N in the ground and have higher protein as a feedstuff • Non Legume: roughages that cannot process Nitrogen from the air

13. Roughages - con’t • Legume roughage examples: alfalfa, clovers, kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, oats • Non legume roughage examples: pasture grasses, corn silage and wheat straw • silage is the entire corn stalk and seed fermented together with the help of bacteria during anerobic digestion

14. Feed Supplements • #1 nutrient supplemented in feeds = PROTEIN • Sources of Protein Supplements: • soybean meal (most common), urea, linseed meal, cottonseed meal, corn gluten meal, brewers dried grain and distillers by products, fish meal, dried milk and whey; In the past: blood meal, bone meal, meat meal and feather meal • Vitamins and Minerals are also supplemented either as ground powder or solid block

15. Feed Additives • Non nutritive substances added to rations to increase animal productivity. • Antibiotics, wormers, hormone-like products, chemotherapuetics

16. Animals must have a complete and balanced ration in order to complete all of the following functions: • body maintenance • growth and fattening • lactation • reproduction • work