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New protein delivery method increases beef feed efficiency, reduces manure volume

A new feed-based, protein-delivery method for cattle will lead to better feed efficiency and less manure, according to a recently completed study funded by the Canada Alberta Beef Industry Development Fund (CABIDF).

"Protein supplements fed to cattle are often degraded by bacteria, protozoa and fungi, before they reach the small intestine, where they provide the most value to the animal," says Dr. Brent Selinger, the lead researcher of the study and biological science professor at the University of Lethbridge. "But, this study has shown us how to avoid those kind of protein losses. We've found a way to protect and deliver valuable protein to the animal's small intestine."

The study received $156,400 in CABIDF support to research a system for effectively delivering protein to the intestine of beef cattle. "We wanted to develop a microbial system for producing and protecting these bioactive proteins so that we could move them through the rumen and into the intestine where they do their best work," says Selinger.

The system resulting from this study is a "rumen escape vehicle." The vehicle, a yeast, houses and protects the proteins in feed from microbial populations as they pass through the rumen. It then releases them in the small intestine.

Researchers tracked the yeast, P. pastoris, through ruminal models using green fluorescent protein from jellyfish. "We found that the yeast, although slightly susceptible to degradation in the rumen, by and large appeared to get enough cells through the rumen," says Selinger.

Upon leaving the rumen, the yeast cell breaks open and releases the protein directly to the small intestine, where it provides the most value to the animal, boosting feed efficiency and reducing manure production.

This process enables valuable proteins to be better captured by the animal. For example, proteins such as the epidermal growth factor may promote growth of an animal by increasing the nutrient absorption capacity of the small intestine. The environmental spin-off of increased feed efficiency is lower manure production. In the future, vaccines and other pharmaceutical products could also be protected by the system.

The ruminal escape vehicle system is also an important tool for studying digestion in the small intestine, says Selinger. Thus far, most research on ruminant feed efficiency has focused on the rumen. The small intestine has been a largely ignored area that could yield significant gains.

For producers, benefits from this study will continue to emerge for many years. "These results have significant potential to affect future production efficiencies," says Selinger. "There are still challenges to overcome, but this first study is encouraging. For a next step, we'd like to test a variety of bioactive proteins to determine which ones are best suited for this system."

Eventually, the benefits are most likely become commercially available to producers as a feed additive, he says.

CABIDF is a joint $16.4 million fund of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and has supported more than 50 projects in five categories. The fund is administered by the Alberta Beef Producers.

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