Intake and digestibility, rumen fermentation, and concentrations of metabolites in steers fed with peanut cake.

This study evaluated peanut cake as a replacement for soybean meal in the diet of steers. We used five castrated Holstein × Zebu steers, fistulated, with average live weight 550 kg, in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The diets were composed of Tifton hay and ground corn with peanut cake (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 %) as a replacement for soybean meal in the concentrate. Intake (kg/day) of dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, and crude protein were not affected by peanut cake, but ether extract intake increased linearly with the level of peanut cake in the diet. The digestibility of dry matter showed a quadratic effect, with a calculated maximum regression level of 56 % at 37 % replacement. There was no effect of the level of peanut cake on metabolizable energy intake and net energy, ammonia nitrogen, rumen pH, plasma urea, and glucose concentrations. We recommend replacing soybean meal in the concentrate with up to 40 % peanut cake.

Composition and fatty acid profile of milk from cows supplemented with pressed oilseed cake.

This study compared the productive and nutritional parameters of milk from crossbred lactating cows managed on Panicum maximum Jacq. cv. Tanzania and with a diet supplemented with different pressed oilseed cakes. The supplements used were as follows: peanut cake, sunflower cake and palm kernel cake for replacement of soybean meal. Sixteen cows with an average weight of 544 ± 57 kg and producing 8 ± 1.4 L of milk per day were used in this study. The animals were randomly assigned to the treatments according to a Latin square design repeated over time, with four treatments, 16 animals and four experimental periods. Supplementation of the diet with peanut cake, sunflower cake and palm kernel cake compared with soybean meal in the diet of cows did not affect the average daily production or composition of the milk. The palm kernel cake promoted an increase in lauric fatty acids (C12:0 ) and palmitoleic acids (C16:1 ) (5.02 and 1.65%, respectively) compared with peanut cake and sunflower cake (4.13 and 4.01%, respectively). The levels of oleic fatty acids (C18:1 ) were higher for the sunflower cake and palm kernel cake supplements (26.01 and 25.01%, respectively) compared with peanut cake (23.11%). The replacement of soybean meal with sunflower cake and palm kernel cake improved the nutritional quality of the milk, with lower concentrations of saturated fatty acids and higher concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids, without compromising the production or nutritional composition of the milk. © 2015 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Feeding behavior of feedlot-finished young bulls fed diets containing peanut cake.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feeding behavior of feedlot-finished young bulls fed diets containing peanut cake instead of soybean meal. A total of 32 Nellore young bulls with an initial body weight of 390 ± 43.5 kg were distributed in a completely randomized design. The animals were individually housed in stalls and fed Tifton 85 hay with four concentrate mixtures containing 0, 33, 66, or 100% peanut cake substituting for soybean meal. The diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous (with 15% crude protein) and isocaloric (with 65% total digestible nutrients), with a 40:60 forage:concentrate ratio, in the form of total mixed diet. The experimental period was 90 days, and data were collected every 28 days. Feeding behavior was assessed by means of observation and recording of the daily time spent feeding, ruminating, and idling, quantification of the periods and calculation of variables related to mastication characteristics as well as feeding and rumination efficiencies. Substitution of soybean meal for peanut cake in the diets caused a linear decrease in the intake of dry matter and neutral detergent fiber but did not affect the behavioral activities of the young bulls. Peanut cake may therefore replace up to 100% of soybean meal in the diet of feedlot-finished young Nellore bulls because it does not affect the feeding behavior of these animals.