Effect of feeding forage characteristic of wet- or dry-season tropical C4 grass in northern Australia, on methane production, intake and rumen outflow rates in Bos indicus steers
L. A. Perry A B D , R. Al Jassim A , J. B. Gaughan A and N. W. Tomkins B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland Gatton Campus, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia.
B CSIRO, Australian Tropical Science and Innovation Precinct, Building 145, James Cook University, James Cook Drive, Douglas, Qld 4812, Australia.
C Meat and Livestock Australia, Level 2, 527 Gregory Terrace, Fortitude Valley, Qld 4006, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: l.perry1@uq.edu.au
Animal Production Science 57(10) 2033-2041 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN15314
Submitted: 19 June 2015 Accepted: 1 July 2016 Published: 18 October 2016
Abstract
Methane production (MP) from Bos indicus steers fed Chloris gayana hay characteristic of the ‘dry season’ (LQH), and a fresh Urochloa mosambicensis grass (PAS) or a C. gayana hay (HQH) characteristic of the ‘wet’ season was determined. A longitudinal feeding trial incorporated a 42-day covariate period (P1) in which Brahman steers (total n = 12) were fed ad libitum LQH (g/kg DM: crude protein (CP) 25; acid detergent fibre expressed exclusive of residual ash (ADFom) 487; DM digestibility (DMD) 380) followed by a 42-day treatment period where steers (n = 4 in each) were randomly assigned to PAS, HQH or remained on LQH (control). The diet composition in P2 was HQH (g/kg DM: CP 88; ADFom 376; DMD 590), PAS (g/kg DM: CP 90; ADFom 324; DMD 630) and LQH (g/kg DM: CP 31; ADFom 461; DMD 410). For each period, on Days 35–41, individual dry-matter intakes (DMI), rumen fermentation parameters and both fluid and particulate fractional rumen outflow rates were measured. On Days 41 and 42, MP was determined using open-circuit respiration chambers. There were diet effects on MP, DMI, volatile fatty acids, and ammonia-N. Both PAS- and HQH-fed steers had greater MP (g/day; P < 0.05) and DMI (P < 0.05) than did those fed LQH, but a lower MP per kilogram DMI digested. The use of predictive equations compared with measured data confirmed prior observations that MP from tropical grasses in the northern Australian rangelands may be overestimated using the current equations for greenhouse gas accounting.
Additional keywords: cattle, forage quality, greenhouse gas, northern rangelands, respiration chamber.
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