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Vegetable oil adds value to livestock rations

Canadian beef producers will soon have access to a comprehensive manual explaining how domestically-produced vegetable oils can be a valuable, economical ration supplement providing both energy and protein.

Along with benefiting the environment, feeding canola, flax, sunflower or soybean oil can improve the nutritional quality of meat and milk products.

"Using more edible oils in livestock rations will have a significant impact on both the beef and oilseed industries," says Vern Racz, director of the Prairie Feed Resource Centre (PFRC) based at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. PFRC has long-supported research in the use of supplemental oils in rations and is now co-ordinating production of the manual. The how-to manual is one of several projects championed by the Canadian Cattlemen's Association and funded by the federal Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program for Canadian Agriculture (GHGMP).

Oil, either raw oilseed or processed oil, is a dense and highly digestible energy source for ruminant animals, says Racz. Improved digestibility reduces the amount of methane gas produced in the rumen. Feeding trials with supplemented oil diets show a reduction in methane gas production of up to 33 percent.

Along with the manual, PFRC and partners are currently developing a proposal to establish at least two on-farm feeding sites in Alberta and Saskatchewan, to demonstrate the practical, economic and environmental benefits of adding various oilseeds and/or oil to conventional grain and forage-based feed rations.

Various livestock researchers across Western Canada have found feedlot cattle supplemented with edible oils in the diet produce 22 to 33 percent less methane gas. "The rumen is the source of the majority of the Canadian beef industry's greenhouse gas emissions," says GHGMP Beef Co-ordinator, Pat Walker. "Research has identified the ability of edible oils to significantly reduce methane emissions from the rumen. But the fact that there are potential co-benefits related to herd health and carcass quality makes the project of even more interest to beef producers."

"There are tremendous economic benefits for both the livestock and the oilseed industries," says Racz. "We've been looking at adding oil to rations for the past 10 years. The research is out there and we know how to do it. Now we need to bring all that information together in a manual that feeders, cow/calf producers can use."

For beef producers, oil supplemented rations could create new marketing opportunities. The oil and fat affects the quality characteristics of milk and meat. Added fat in the diet has a positive effect on levels of nutritionally important fatty acids, such as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and congulated linoleic acid (CLA). The type of oil fed, whether it is canola, flax or sunflower, affects the fatty acid composition differently.

ALA and CLA have important human health benefits. ALA helps prevent heart disease, while CLA enhances the immune system, increases the metabolic rate and helps prevent cancer.

"Added oil alters the fatty-acid composition of meat and milk, which presents an opportunity to produce products with specific quality characteristics," says Racz. "For example, producers could have the opportunity to produce higher value 'designer beef'."

At the same time, Racz says, increasing the fat content in rations will provide canola, flax, sunflower and soybean producers across the country with a larger domestic market for a wide range of oil types and grades.

A co-ordinator has been hired to assemble relevant research literature on oilseed use in cattle diets, while researchers at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Brandon and Lethbridge Research Centres will co-author the manual. The manual should be available by mid-2005.

The GHGMP supports a broad range of projects across Canada with the goal to promote awareness of agricultural practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA) administers the delivery of the beef sector component of the program. For more information on this project and other beef sector activities, visit the CCA's Web site: www.cattle.ca.

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