Can barley fodder be fed in place of grass hay to dairy goats and dairy sheep and what effect will it have on milk production and composition.

RESULTS

Doe and ewe body weight is presented in Table 3.  No body weight differences were found between treatments for either species.  Doe mixed hay DMI was different (P<0.05) between TRT1 at 2.68 #/d, decreasing to 2.09 #/d for TRT4.  The mixed hay DMI was different (P<0.05), decreasing from 4.45 and 4.74 #/d for TRT1 and TRT2 to 3.68 #/d for TRT4.  The mixed grain fed to the does and ewes was set at 2 # as-fed given at the two milkings for the ewes and 4 # as-fed for the does at each milking.  Data presented in Table 3 is the grain mix fed daily on a dry matter basis. 

Fodder was fed at 0, 1.65, 3.35, and 5 #/d as-fed (0, 0.18, 0.37 and 0.54 # DM/d) for does and 0, 1, 2 and 3 #/d as-fed (0, 0.11, 0.21 and 0.32 g DM/d) for ewes. Fodder intake for the does was different (P<0.05) across all treatments, with the exception of TRT3 and TRT4, 0, 0.16, 0.29, and 0.38 # DM BSF/d.  Ewe fodder intake differed (P<0.05) across all treatments at 0, 0.11, 0.22 and 0.31 # DM BSF/d.       

            Feed costs (see Table 3) are based on the following prices:

These prices are typical for the Utah, USA area.  Using these prices, feed costs ranged from $0.82 to $0.88 for does with TRT1 differing (P<0.05) from TRT3 and TRT4.  Ewes on the other hand, were different (P<0.05) between TRT1 and TRT2, $0.73 to $0.79 respectively, TRT3 and TRT4 were $0.75.  These feed costs included the mixed hay, grain mix and the fodder, excluding the BSF production costs. 

The BSF production costs are based on the following prices for Utah, USA at the time of the study:

The BSF production unit we used for this study produces 50 kg of wet fodder per day (5.35 kg DM fodder/d).  The BSF production cost for the DM BSF fed was $0.00/d to $0.02.  When added to the feed costs, total cost for the does ranged from $0.82 to $0.90 per day, while the ewe cost ranged from $0.73 to $0.80 for the ewes.  

*Cost = hay, grain and barley fodder grain per day

**BSF Cost = Electricity, water and Labor; $0.24/pound (#) DM BSF

^abcdRows with differing superscripts are different at P<0.05

            Milk yield and composition are presented in Table 4.  Days in milk (DIM) was not different between treatments for either the does or the ewes.  Milk yield was not different between treatments for either species.  Yield for does ranged 2.9 to 3.0 #/d, while ewe yield ranged from 1.1 to 1.2 #/d.  Percentage milk fat for does did not differ between treatments ranging from 2.57 to 2.88%, with g/d ranging from 3.63 to 3.83.  Milk fat percentage for the ewes ranged from 5.57 to 6.00% and 46.6 to 55.8 g/d.  Milk protein percent was different (P<0.05) between TRT3 and TRT4 for does 2.88 and 2.72% respectively.  Milk protein g/d was not different and ranged from 35.7 to 37.5 g/d.  Milk protein percent for ewes was not different with a range of 4.80 to 4.90%.  Lactose percentage was not different between treatments for both does and ewes; does ranged from 4.47 to 4.54% and ewes from 5.02 to 5.06%.  The g/d of lactose was not different for the does or ewes (59.3 to 61.3 g/d and 24.6 to 27.1 g/d).

            There were no differences between treatments for either milk or cheese fatty acids.  Values in Table 5 represent comparisons between no fodder and fodder.   

*DMI = days in milk

^**Cheese = ratio of milk to cheese produced

DISCUSSION

Grain sprout fodder is a green roughage feed that can be produced year-round.  Barley sprout fodder is the most popular in the U.S.  The fodder is 90% digestible so animals should glean more nutrients from feeding it.  Fodder production takes less space than the fields needed to produce grass or alfalfa hay products.  Typical dry matter content of fodder is 18% compared to alfalfa that is 90%.  In the study presented here, we found the DM of BSF to be 10.7% at the time of feeding. The alfalfa and grass hay used in this study contained 90.6 and 92.3% DM.  Meaning, for every pound of alfalfa or grass hay fed, the animal is getting 0.91 or 0.92 pounds of the hays respectively.  Compare this to the BSF which is 0.11 pound for every pound of BSF fed.   

We used 13.2 pounds of barley seed to produce 110 pounds of BSF.  Comparing the nutrient composition between the barley grain and BSF, the BSF is 3.5% higher in DM, but lower for starch and sugars.  Care needs to be taken when comparing barley grain to BSF.  Although they are related, the grain is a starch concentrated feed, while BSF is a forage.  The digestion of these two feeds is carried out by two different types of microbes in the rumen of the animal, one group that consumes starch and sugars and another group that consumes the cellulolytic or structural component of the plant.  The largest population of microbes (bacteria) found in the rumen are those that consume cellulolytic plant material.

It needs to be pointed out that BSF is not intended to completely replace dry hay.  Based on estimated nutrient requirements (NRC, 2007), the ewes in our study should be consuming 5.0 pounds of DM feed.  Fed BSF alone, the ewe would need to eat 46 pounds of fresh fodder.  This amount of forage material would be difficult for a ewe to consume in one day.  Our approach in this study to feed a dry hay mix, replacing grass hay in the mix with BSF.  Eighty-six, 78 and 70% of BSF fed for TRT2, TRT3 and TRT4 respectively was consumed by the does, while ewes consumed 94 to 100% of the BSF fed.  The BSF was cut into strips and fed in the mangers of each species.  This method of feeding may have attributed to the BSF intake by the goats as tend to be more selective in their eating habits.  Dry matter intake was affected (P<0.05) by the BSF treatments, decreasing the mixed hay intake 78 and 83% of the treatment without BSF.  This was expected since we were feeding 5 and 3 pounds/d BSF on an as-fed basis.  This equates to an increase in feed mass of 220% for the does and 74% for the ewes. 

We anticipated that BSF inclusion would potentially increase milk yield due to the higher digestibility, but the DM digestibility of the BSF was overshadowed because it was a small portion of the total DMI.  The BSF inclusion was 5% of the total DMI for both species.  The addition of BSF, under the circumstances of this study, did not result in milk production or composition changes.  These result do warrant further studying, especially at what amount can fodders be included in a diet for sheep and goats without affecting milk production.  Because the inclusion of BSF did not alter milk production or composition, we determined the economics of BSF inclusion based on our studies parameters.

Animal nutrient requirements are based on DM intake.  The biggest issue when comparing grain sprout fodder to dry hay is the difference in DM.  One of the biggest selling points of fodder usage is the small footprint to grow a large amount of forage. Space needed to produce one-ton of fodder per day can vary depending on the system manufacturer from 272 to 720 square feet.  Compare this to the one acre, or 43,560 square feet needed to produce approximately 7 ton of alfalfa hay per year or 2.5 ton of grass hay.  Dry hay is about 90% DM on average, while fodder is between 10 to 18% DM.  Under our circumstances, 1 ton (2000 pounds) of alfalfa hay is 1812 pounds DM and 1 ton of BSF is 214 pounds DM.  Comparing the same DM weight of 1812 pounds alfalfa, you would have to grow 16,935 pounds of BSF.  The DMI for the does and ewes from this study, without BSF, was 6.2 pounds DM or 6.89 pounds as-fed.  The 6.89 pounds would equate to 64 pounds of BSF as-fed, an amount not feasible to consume.  Hypothetically, if ½ fed was dry hay 3.45 and ½ BSF, BSF would equate to 32.2 pounds, still not an amount that can be consumed.  If dry hay were ¾ of intake would be 5.2 pounds and 14.5 pounds BSF as-fed. This amount could be consumed.  The cost difference between an all alfalfa diet ($0.75) and the ¾ alfalfa/ ¼ BSF ($1.65) is $0.90 per day.    

Shewmaker and colleagues (2013) at the University of Idaho report that each ton of hay produced, 1800 gallon of water is required.   According to HydroGreen Inc (Renner, SD), one ton or 909 kg of fodder requires 1200 gallons of water.  This is equivalent to 1 gallon of water per pound of DM alfalfa hay and 5.61 gallons per pound of DM BSF.  The fodder unit we used specifies 36 gallons/d for the production of 110 pounds of BSF, which is 3.06 gallons of water per pound DM BSF.  The unit we used actually took 4.28 gallons of water per pound of DM BSF. 

Arguments against the use of fodder in animal agriculture include the loss of available dietary energy and the decrease in dry matter by the sprouting process.  Labor and energy costs are also negative factors for fodder use, but are offset by the cost of farmland and harvesting equipment.  These are valid points, but the use of fodder in feeding animals comes down to the farmer weighing their resources and objectives.  Barley fodder may cost more to feed on a dry matter basis, but land, storage and year-round availability are important factors in the decision making process.  Fodder’s best use is as a supplement to the diet of animals, reducing the amount of dry forage.  Fodder cannot be the sole forage due to the high moisture content.