PLANT FOR INCREASING THE VALUE OF FODDER WITH HIGH FIBRE CONTENT

ABSTRACT PRERUMEN is an exclusive know-how suitable to exploit the biomass coming from waste agricultural and by-products of agro-food industry. Thanks to exclusive methods of piloted fermentation, the organic materials of modest value (straw, stalks, and by-product of canning industry) can find appropriate use in cattle feeding (for the production of meat and milk) or to be used, with high yields, in biogas plants. This method makes it possible to obtain fermented masses of good preservability and easy to manage, by freeing in the same time the noble food (maize, soya, etc.) that can in this way be destined to the sale. The result is a general increase of the companies’ profit.

ENERGY AND FIBROUS PASTURE

In the breeding of ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats) the main object is to take advantage of the energy supplied by the fibrous pasture. The more energy from fodder that can be transformed into meat and milk, the lower the production costs and the higher the income from breeding. The solution to obtain optimum pasture and management costs on a modern breeding system is called PRERUMEN system. With PRERUMEN system, which reproduces all the conditions and fermentation processes in the rumen, it is possible to increase the quantity of energy available to the animals from a pasture rich in fibre. Thanks to PRERUMEN system it is possible to improve all those products or by-products of agriculture and farm industry which have a low or no nourishing value at all.

 

MAIN FIBROUS NOURISHMENTS

   AGRICULTURAL CULTIVATIONS:

   ✗HAYS: graminacee and/or leguminous meadows
   ✗ STRAWS: wheat, barley, rye, oats, soya, etc
   ✗ STALKS: maize, sorghum, sunflowers, etc.
   ✗ TROPICAL MEADOWS

   SOTTOPRODOTTI AGRO-INDUSTRIALI:

   FARM INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS
   ✗Production of juices (apple pomace, citrus pulp, etc.)
   ✗ Tomato extracts (skin/peel and seeds)
   ✗ Wine production (grape skins)
   ✗ Coffee and cocoa (shell)
   ✗ Beer (wet brewery grain)

  SEEDS INDUSTRY: Rejected seeds
   ✗Rejected seeds

 

   SUGAR INDUSTRY::
   ✗Discarded part of cane (bagozo and bagicillo)
   ✗ Discarded parts of beets (tops and leaves)

PRERUMEN SYSTEM

It is a system which, reproducing artificially the conditions and ruminal fermentation processes, improves the feed with a high percentage of fibre content, and a high biological value. A - Mechanical phase The fibrous material is finely ground to 2 - 4 cm and mixed with water (about 200/250 litres per 100 kg of dry material) in which have been dissolved: a - UREA (3.0 kg per 100 liters of water) b - MOLASSES (4.0 kg per 100 liters of water) c – BIOCATALYSERS (0.2 kg per 100 litres of water) B - Fermentation phase We can divide the fermentation phase into two: I - MICROAEROBIC phase The material obtained in the mechanical phase is kept in the open air for 3 - 5 days. During this stage the aerobic fermentation starts: you will notice an increase in temperature (65 - 70 C) and a remarkable production of ammonia which increases the pH (pH9). During this phase (BIO-OXIDATION), phenomenon of physiquechemical attacks happen on the structure of the fibre. The water reinflates the cellulose and facilitates the action of UREASIS which transforms the urea into ammoniac. This reaction takes place in the oxygen’s presence and determines the rise of temperature and pH with liberalization of the carbon dioxide and steam. Several studies confirm that the temperature and pH conditions that appear in this phase are capable of simplifying some complex fibrous structures and demolishing the most of the infesting pathogens that are in the substance at the beginning. It’s obtained an increase of the digestibility of the fibre and a simple but efficient hygiene of the food II - ANAEROBIC phase Once the material has reached the optimum leve1s of temperature and pH, the product obtained must be ensilaged for 12 - 15 days. After this period it can be used as a normal silage. During this second phase the temperature decreases to 37 - 40 C and the pH to 6.3 - 6.5. The developing microorganisms using the ammonia and sugars of molasses are able to attack the molecules of cellulose and emicellulose producing fatty acids. In the maturation phase, following the diminishing respiratory activity, there’s a stabilization with a decreasing of the temperature which allows the colonization of the ensiled mass on the part of anaerobic microorganisms with the production of a good quality of fat acids at short chain (VFA).

THIS METHOD ALLOWS AN INCREASE OF ENERGY AVAILABLE TO
THE ANIMAL (INCREASE OF DIGESTIVE ENERGY) REPRODUCING
THOSE CONDITIONS AND PROCESSES IN THE RUMEN, WHICH
HELP THE DIGESTION OF CELLULOSE.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRODUCTS

Humidity 65 - 70%
pH 6,3 - 6.5
Temperature about 37°C
Presence of volatile fatty acids (acetic, lactic and propionic acids)
Good preservation due to stabilization of fermentation
Lack of moulds and toxins: during the first fermentation phase there are particular
conditions which allow the breakdown of moulds and toxins in the fibre material.
A large number of tests have proved a complete breakdown of moulds existing in wet cereals
when they are added to the fibrous material in fermentation.
ADVANTAGES
• Improvement of by-products and rough fibrous materials: possibility to use pasture with a
low nutrition value (straw, stalks. by-products of farm industry, etc.)
• Increase in energy (D.E. and M.E.) available to the animals.
• reduction of pasture costs
• improvement in the swallowing of dry matter
• optimising all ruminaI functions (buffer power)
• greater development of bacterial flora in the rumen
• improved digestibility of the fibrous ration
• improved sanitary conditions of the animaIs: optimising all ruminal functions resulting in
greater overall improvement in the health of the animals
• lowering of costs due to lower use of mineral buffers and medicines

Dry matter	35
Crude proteins	8,5
Crude fats	0.35
Crude fibre	32
Ashes	7.4
Nitrogen-free extracts	48.25
	(%) X	S	C.V.
Acetic acid	4.50	0.2973	6.60
Butyric acid	0.75	0.2124	28.0
Propionic acid	0.35	0.1003	28.65
Volatile fatty acids	5.60
Lactic acid	0.80	0.4975	62.18
Total fatty acids	6.40
pH	6,80	0.80	11.45

Analisi chimica media riferita a campione di 12 giorni di insilamento

	Paglia Grano	Paglia Orzo	Stocchi Mais
SS/AS FED *	100/33	100/35	100/34
PG *	8,50	9,20	11,50
FG *	36,10	34,30	33,80
NDF*	78,6	72,8	73
ADF*	52,7	51,6	43
ADL*	12,5	10	9
	/ kg ss	/ kg ss	/ kg ss
GE , kcal	4297	4414	4398
DE , kcal	2561	2937	2794
ME , kcal	2008	2541	2221
UFL n.	0,79	0,82	0,81
UFV n.	0,73	0,77	0,76
	g / kg ss	g / kg ss	g / kg ss
Digestible Crude Prot.°	66,75	69,00	86,25
PDIA	27,59	28,52	35,65
PDIN	59,63	61,64	77,05
PDIE	75,65	78,20	97,75

Average Analysis of PRERUMEN had with straw
+ 3 kg urea + 4 kg molasses + 0, 2 kg catalyst + 200 kg water
* Values had with classic analysis
° Values had with the ruminant bag method (Orsakow Method)

DIGESTION OF THE CELLULOSE: RUMINAL FERMENTATION SYSTEM

ENERGY SOURCES All nourishment contains mainly three groups of elements GLUCIDES, LIPIDS, PROTEINS.

The function of proteins is mainly to support, to catalyze enzymes and hormones. Seldom are they used as energy sources. Glucides and lipids, on the contrary, are used an immediate source of energy or as reserve, even though they perform important structural duties.

 

GLUCIDES

Glucides are the most abundant organic parts of living material as they are spread throughout the vegetable kingdom as a support (cellulose, emicellulose, lignin) and as a reserve (amid). Amid is very important in the diet of humans and animals as it represents about 50% of the intake of calories (wheat, rice, maize, potato, etc.)

 

FIBRE: With the name fibre we identify a group of substances, mainly cellulose, emicellulose and lignin, which form the walls of vegetable cells. From cellulose and emicellulose the herbivores obtain energy, while the lignin is completely undigestible. The percentage of these three elements determines the level of digestibility of pasture material: the higher the percentage of lignin, the lower the digestibility.

 

CELLULOSE: Cellulose is the main element in wood and fibrous parts of plants and vegetables. lt is calculated that every year throughout the world about 190 x 10 m of cellulose is produced. For this reason it is considered to be the most abundant of all organic compounds. Only a small part of this huge quantity is used for nourishment as, due to the particular chemical composition, it is almost useless to human beings and to many animal species, but considered to be the fundamental nourishment to herbivores. They have the capability to use cellulose due to the cellulose enzyme which is produced by the high population of micro organisms living in their gastronomic tract.

 

RUMINANTS

Ruminant animals (cattle, goats and sheep) use a digestive strategy which allows them to digest the cellulose. They have developed digestive organs which are divided into three prestomachs (rumen, reticulum and omasum) and the real stomach (abomasum).

The rumen is used for storage and for the partial breaking down of the food, where it undergoes the first and radical transformation essential for its utilization. The reticulum helps to select the material which is passed from the rumen to the omasum. It also has the function of coordinating the movement of the rumen to allow the re-mixing of the remaining material. The omasum acts as a 'filter' between the rumen and abomasum to prevent the passage of rough material. Volatile fatty acids, which escape during the ruminal absorbtion, and a large quantity of water are absorbed by the omasum. The abomasum is the place where the gastric secretion begins.

RUMINAL FERMENTATIVE SYSTEM

In the ruminant animals the separation of the forage takes place mainly in the rumen due to the bacteria it contains. They leave the rumen only when they can be attacked by the gastric juices, or when the majority of the glucides (including cellulose and emicellulose) have been transformed into volatile fatty acids (VFA). The fodder material moves from the rumen to the abomasum only when it has been broken down into smaller pieces of about 0.6 cms. Rougher pieces remain in the rumen for longer. The VFA are absorbed by the wall of the rumen and passed to the blood where they are used as an energy source or transformed into glucose and lipids. 70-75% of the proteins which reach the rumen are broken down by the bacteria. Then aminoacids will produce a bacteria protein different from the nourishment one at the beginning, and ammonia which will be used to synthesize new aminoacids. Part of the ammonia passes through the rumen wall into the blood and into the liver where it is transformed into urea. The latter returns in part to the rumen with the saliva, where it is metabolized into ammonia again and the cycle starts once more (urea cycle) while the rest is eliminated in the urine. The ammonia in the rumen become as protein source. This justifies, respecting precise conditions, the nourishment use of urea and other forms of non-proteic nitrogen (NPN).

 

REGULATION It is in the rumen that the fermentation takes place.

The complex biochemical processes which take place are partly regulated and stabilized by the intake of rough fibre in the forage material. The fibre, apart from providing energy, stimulates both the ruminal movements and production of saliva (buffer power). lts primary role is to maintain a normal ruminal environment and, because of this 'ionic trade', acts as a mechanism for self-regulating the ruminal pH. So, fibre has three fundamental functions.

1. as a source of energy

2. to regulate ruminal movements

3. maintain the ruminal pH LIMITS

 

This fermentation system, especially in the cellulose, presents some limits which are particularly evident in the modern breeding system:

 

✔ the low swallowing capacity of the animal due to the low ruminal capacity (100-150 litres) and overall dimension of the fodder;

 

✔ the lengthy time the pasture material remains in the rumen due to the slow and complex fermentation processes;

 

✔ high energy losses due to the energy used by the bacteria and by the production of methane and heat during fermentations;

 

✔ difficulties met by the micro-organisms in attacking fodder material rich in lignin.

 

All these factors result in low energy output of the ruminaI fermentation system, particularly those products with high fibre content. For example, in the graph you will see the energy values related to the degradation of seeds and stalks of maize at ruminaI level. It can be seen that the potential energy (B.E.) of stalks is almost equal to the one for seeds, while the energy available to the animal is, actually, much lower (D.E. and M.E.)

 

	B.E.	D.E	M.E.
Mais seeds	4510	3999	3370
Mais stalks	4116	2200	1800

 

The attack on the cellulose by the micro-organisms in the fodder may vary from 50 - 80% depending on the maturation stage and from the lignin content. The higher the maturation stage, the higher the substance preventing digestibility.

SOLUTION

In order to overcome part of these limits, improve the energy output of the ruminal system, and to satisfy demands for hlgher yielding animals, many different methods were tried. the methods of producing forage have been improved by paying particular attention to its preservation (ensilage, dehydration, etc). In this way you obtain nourishment with little ruminal overall dimension and high digestive fibre; in the past livestock breeding was developed with pasture poor in cellulose and rich in amids (cereals). This type of pasture, apart from creating competition for nourishment between the mono-gastrics (humans) and the poly-gastrics, gave rise to a distortion of the normal physiology of the rumen and consequently: fextreme increase of lactic acid with a consequential decrease in ruminal pH, changes to the composition of ruminal microbes and, in certain cases, a reduction in protection alteration, more or less serious, in the sanitary conditions of the animals. (ACIDOSIS) new methods of improving the quality of fibre were tested (physical, chemical and biological), in an attempt to increase the surface of attack by the cellulose bacteria, to shorten the time the forage material takes to pass through the digestive tract, to improve the digestibility and make easier the swallowing of poor quality forage material which would otherwise be destroyed or used for other purposes. (straw, stalks and various fibrous by-products).

 

The PRERUMEN METHOD, presented in this brochure is a complex method which emplys a physical treatment (grinding, inbibition with water and heating), a chemical treatment (due to the transformation of urea into ammonia) and a biological method (using a bio-catalyst to develop bacteria) as the best possible means of satisfying the demands of modern livestock breeding using products and by-products with poor nourishing power.