The world population is growing exponentially, increasing demand to produce high-quality protein for human consumption. Changes in weather patterns, drought, and decreased land resources due to urbanization have increased strain on the agriculture sector to meet world demands. An alternative method to combat these issues and continue to produce high-quality livestock feed would be through a controlled environment vertical farming system. Commonly, cereal grains, such as barley, are used in these systems to produce livestock feed. However, there is little information on the viability of feeding sprouted grains to beef cattle. Two diets of either feeder quality alfalfa hay (n=10 pairs; ALF) or the same alfalfa hay and sprouted barley (12.6% DM; n=10 pairs; SB) were fed for 90 d to Angus pairs with a steer calf during mid to late gestation. On d 0 and 90, body weight (BW), milk, rumen fluid and body condition score (BCS) were collected from cows and hip height and BW were recorded for calves. On d 10, BW was recorded for cows and calves and rumen fluid was collected from cows. Rumen fluid was also collected from cows on d 45. On d 55, BW was collected for both cows and calves and milk from cows. Intake was recorded throughout the trial via bunks with Vytelle technology. The PROC MIXED procedure of SAS was used to analyze all data with day as a repeated measure to determine the main effect of diet. Individual volatile fatty acids (VFA) were measured as a percent of total VFA. No differences (P≥0.16) were observed in calf BW, hip height, milk protein, fat, lactose, calf dry matter intake (DMI), or cow DMI. Cows fed SB tended (P=0.08) to have a decreased somatic cell count (SCC) compared to ALF. Percent butyrate was impacted by diet×day (P=0.02), but no difference (P>0.09) at any time points were detected. Additionally, a diet×day effect (P=0.001) on rumen pH demonstrated that both groups stayed consistent until d 45 and then SB pH decreased the last 45 d. There was a day effect for total VFA (P=0.0009), acetate:propionate (Ac:Pr) (P<0.0001), acetate (P<0.0001), and propionate (P<0.0001) demonstrating that total VFA, acetate and Ac:Pr all increased throughout the trial, while propionate decreased. These results indicate that sprouted barley can be a potential alternative feed at this stage of production as it does not negatively impact health or production, but does affect the rumen pH and proportion of some VFA.

中文翻译：

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在日粮中添加发芽大麦和苜蓿干草对牛犊对瘤胃健康和生产性能的影响

世界人口呈指数级增长，对生产供人类消费的优质蛋白质的需求不断增加。天气模式的变化、干旱以及城市化导致的土地资源减少，增加了农业部门满足世界需求的压力。解决这些问题并继续生产高质量牲畜饲料的另一种方法是通过受控环境垂直农业系统。通常，这些系统使用谷物（例如大麦）来生产牲畜饲料。然而，关于用发芽谷物喂养肉牛的可行性的信息很少。中期饲喂优质苜蓿干草（n = 10 对；ALF）或相同的苜蓿干草和发芽大麦（12.6% DM；n = 10 对；SB）的两种日粮给安格斯对和小牛犊饲喂 90 天。至妊娠晚期。在第 0 天和第 90 天，收集奶牛的体重 (BW)、牛奶、瘤胃液和身体状况评分 (BCS)，并记录犊牛的臀高和 BW。第10天，记录奶牛和小牛的体重，并从奶牛收集瘤胃液。还在第 45 天从奶牛收集瘤胃液。在第 55 天，收集奶牛和小牛的体重以及奶牛的牛奶。在整个试验过程中，通过采用 Vytelle 技术的铺位记录摄入量。使用SAS的PROC MIXED程序对所有数据进行分析，以天作为重复测量，以确定饮食的主效应。单个挥发性脂肪酸 (VFA) 以占总 VFA 的百分比进行测量。犊牛体重、臀高、乳蛋白、脂肪、乳糖、犊牛干物质摄入量 (DMI) 或奶牛 DMI 没有观察到差异 (P≥0.16)。与 ALF 相比，饲喂 SB 的奶牛体细胞计数 (SCC) 倾向于减少 (P=0.08)。丁酸百分比受饮食×天的影响(P＝0.02)，但在任何时间点都没有检测到差异(P＞0.09)。此外，饮食×日对瘤胃 pH 值的影响 (P=0.001) 表明，两组在第 45 天之前都保持一致，然后 SB pH 在最后 45 天下降。总 VFA (P=0.0009)、乙酸盐:丙酸盐 (Ac:Pr) (P<0.0001)、乙酸盐 (P<0.0001) 和丙酸盐 (P<0.0001) 存在日间效应，表明总 VFA、乙酸盐和 Ac ：在整个试验过程中，Pr 均增加，而丙酸减少。这些结果表明，发芽大麦可以成为现阶段生产的潜在替代饲料，因为它不会对健康或生产产生负面影响，但会影响瘤胃 pH 值和某些 VFA 的比例。