Effect of replacing forage sorghum silage with biomass sorghum silage in diets for F1 Holstein × Zebu lactating cows

Tropical grass silages with spineless cactus in diets of Holstein × Zebu heifers in the semiarid region of Brazil

One of the factors that limit ruminant production in the semiarid region is the lack of roughage in the dry season. The management of forage plants adapted to edaphoclimatic conditions is a strategy to improve animal production. This study was conducted to examine the effects of biomass sorghum silage (BSS; Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and BRS capiaçu grass silage (CGS; Pennisetum purpureum Schum) with or without spineless cactus (Opuntia spp.) in crossbred Holstein × Zebu heifers' diets on the intake, apparent digestibility of the nutrients and animal performance (e.g., final weight, daily weight gain) (experiment 1). Also, to evaluate the ruminal kinetics of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of roughages used in diets using two animals cannulated in the rumen (experiment 2). In experiment 1, ten heifers with an initial body weight of 200 ± 2.74 kg (mean ± standard deviation) and a mean age of 10 months were used. The animals were distributed in an experimental design in two simultaneous 5 × 5 Latin squares. Five experimental diets were used: diet 1, Volumax sorghum silage (VSS); diet 2, biomass sorghum silage (BSS); diet 3, BRS capiaçu silage (CGS); diet 4, biomass sorghum silage (60%) with spineless cactus (40%) (BSS + SC); and diet 5, BRS capiaçu grass silage (60%) with spineless cactus (40%) (CGS + SC). The diets were formulated with sorghum silage or BRS capiaçu grass silage with or without spineless cactus (roughage) and a maize- and soybean-based concentrate (75:25 roughage-to-concentrate ratio) on DM basis. The experiment lasted 105 days, divided into five periods of 21 days (17 days for the adaptation of the animals to the diets and management and 4 for data collection and samples). The diets containing CGS and CGS + SC resulted in lower dry matter intake (DMI; 5.61 kg day^-1; P < 0.01), which was 19.4% lower than the diets with VSS, BSS, and BSS + SC (7.00 kg day^-1). The BSS + SC and CGS + SC diets showed higher crude protein digestibility (P < 0.01) at 21.9% than the other treatments (Volumax, BSS, CGS). The different diets did not change the final weight or the daily weight gain of the heifers. The BRS 716 biomass sorghum silage and BRS capiaçu grass combined with spineless cactus increased (P < 0.05) the intake of nonfibrous carbohydrates and did not interfere (P > 0.05) with the final weight or average daily gain of the crossbred Holstein × Zebu heifers. The standardized potentially degradable fraction (Bp) of the NDF was 13.91% higher (P < 0.01) for BSS and BSS + SC (61.6%) compared to the others (53.0%). A diet based on BSS + SC is recommended for feeding crossbred heifers in the growing phase.