Beef cattle and other livestock have mechanisms for chewing and digesting fiber. Today, our livestock needs to gain weight gains in greater efficiency and in less time. Through the development of mechanization and other technologies, we are able to produce higher quality roughage more efficiently. It is currently difficult to assess the increase in feed conversion rate due to the impact of a particular factor, such as an increase in nutrient levels. In the past few decades, the beef cattle industry has focused on feed processing.
Feed processing is not a new area, it has evolved with the renewal of old equipment, the development of new machinery, the introduction of new crop varieties, new harvesting methods, and the emergence of new assessments of processed feed technology, especially for cereals. Some new processing methods have emerged. Many feed processing methods rely on fuel and electricity as a power source. Therefore, the benefits of each feed processing method need to be compared to the cost of processing to determine whether it is economically viable. This is especially important today when oil prices are rising.
1 feed processing method
There are several ways to process cereals, some of which are slightly different. Some methods have been in use for decades, and some methods have only recently appeared.
Grain processing is usually divided into two categories: dry processing and wet processing. For cereals, dry processing includes: grinding, dry drum rolling, extrusion, granulation, baking, popping, and micronization. Wet processing includes: steam drum grinding, steam production, pressure cooking, high humidity, soaking, germination, and wet blasting.
Why process feed ingredients? Because livestock feeds usually vary in size, material, shape, and maturity at harvest, and palatability varies. The unique feed processing method minimizes this difference between feeds, especially for cereals. Furthermore, for a given grain, such as corn, different varieties of corn have different storage times and different qualities. Controlling the processing method minimizes differences in feed quality and palatability.
Processing usually changes the shape of the feed and the size of the feed pellets. This change is reflected in changes in the density of the processed feed, which usually results in a decrease in the density of the feed, which results in a change in the digestibility of the processed feed.
Some processing methods that require steam press or mechanical friction result in gelatinization of the starch. The result of starch gelatinization is an increase in feed digestibility. This increase in digestibility may be due to an increase in rumen fermentation. Most processing methods increase the surface area of ​​the feed, thus causing an increase in bacterial and enzyme activity.
Processing the feed also increases the palatability of the feed. Very dry and hard grains reduce the feed intake of animals. This can be overcome by applying steam to the dry and hard feed or adding water and then machining the feed.
For specific feeds, especially forage, processing prevents the animals from picking up the favorite feed from different feed sizes.
Processing feed with an automated feeding system can reduce feed storage and shrinkage, and can also reduce the use of feed treatment facilities by processing specific feeds. It is like the control between the bales of hay and the hay grains. For cereals, processing may be more harmful than good because of the increased handling that may result in storage problems.
2 dry processing methods
2.1 grinding, dry drum rolling
Grinding is perhaps the oldest and cheapest way to process feed. The particle size of the ground feed is determined by the size of the screen of the hammer mill. The resulting product can range in size from granules to very fine powders. Rough corn granules can also be processed by a roller compactor. The particle size or material of the ground grain depends on the flow rate of the corn and the gap set between the rollers and the groove of the roller.
The finely ground grain cattle are not tasty to eat, so the feed intake of the cattle is reduced, which leads to a decrease in the weight gain of the cattle and a reduction in the feeding value of the feed. This phenomenon is more prominent in high-quality feed diets than in high-straw diets.
2.2 extrusion
Extrusion is the passage of dry grains through a tapered spiral hole where the temperature of the grain rises to 93oC or higher due to friction and pressure. When the grain is discharged from the outlet, a band-like substance is produced, which is decomposed into a 1 mm thick sheet. If the flaky material is broken a lot, resulting in a large amount of noodles, it can be solved by adding water before the grain enters the spiral hole.
The feed value of extruded grain is similar to that of steam-produced grain. One advantage of extruded grain compared to steam production is that two or more grains can be mixed together prior to processing, resulting in a very uniform quality product. For steam production, it is difficult to combine two grains (such as corn and sorghum) because of the different steam times and drum settings for the two different seed grains.
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2.3 granules
Cereals, various roughages, and high-protein feeds can be made into granules and fed to cattle in the form of granules. All feed must be ground to a very fine powder before being granulated.
Pellet feed has various advantages. Cattle can't picky the feed that you like to eat. Furthermore, various feed ingredients can be mixed together to make a full-price diet for feeding. If the finished granules are hard enough, the dust problem and the loss of the feed during windy can be reduced.
Especially in grazing conditions, one of the convenient and practical ways to feed cattle is to feed pellets or chunks of feed when cattle need supplements. The size of the desired pellet feed can be achieved by changing the mold of the machine.
The cost of grain pellets is higher than other processing methods. Compared to grinding or comminuting cereals, the grain fed into the granules gives the cattle no increase or increase in weight gain.
Granulated roughages, such as sun-dried alfalfa hay pellets, are easier to handle than baled or cut roughage and require less storage space. For mechanized farms, pellets have an advantage over bundled, dusty feeds.
It is generally not recommended to feed cows with whole-grain feeds unless the feeding period is less than 90 days or 0.9 kg of cut hay or similar forage is added to the cows per day. The whole pellet feed here includes pellet feed and fine roughage which are made by mixing the crude roughage into pellet feed separately and then mixed together. The reason for the poor effect of feeding whole pellets to beef cattle is unclear. It may be that there is a lack of rough material in the diet to scrub the rumen wall, or it may be due to the rumen fermentation too fast.
2.4 baking
The machine that heats the whole dry grain is called an oven. A quantity of screw feeders in the process advances the grain from the hopper into the baking drum. The fins in the rotating baking drum lift the grain and fall through the flame. In a moment, the grain receives a pulsating heating directly in a high temperature flame of 148.9oC. Thus, the grain is repeatedly pulsatingly heated 160-190 times in the drum. Finally, the grain feed that slips through the drum from the chute has the same brownish-yellow bread. With a slightly caramel flavor, the grain after baking is 10% less than the original weight. The production capacity of this equipment is 3t / h.
Corn kernels, sorghum, barley and soybeans can be processed in this way. The processing cost per ton of grain is similar to that of steam production.
According to some research results, the use of roasted corn feed can improve the feeding value of the diet by about 10% and increase the beef cattle weight gain by 5%-14% compared with the uncooked corn kernels.
2.5 burst flower
This method of processing is to put dry grains (mainly sorghum, corn and wheat) into a large machine and heat the grain to a very high temperature (371-426oC) for 15-30s. The high temperatures cause the water in the grain to evaporate, gelatinizing the grain and expanding the starch particles. The popped grain is easily blown to the roller compactor. The popcorn machine can blast nearly 40%-50% of the dried grain, and the unexploded grain is ground through the roller compactor. The ground grain feed has the same nutritional value as the popped feed. If the beef cattle add some water to the grain that is used to explode, the feeding effect can be compared with the produced grain.
The cost of popping is about 3.35-10 yuan / t, because the required power and equipment maintenance costs are small, so the processing costs are slightly cheaper than the film processing. The productivity of large popsing machines can reach 3-4t/h.
2.6 Micronization
This method of processing is to heat the grain to nearly 149oC by an infrared generator. The heat generated reduces the water content to approximately 7%. After the microwave, the grain enters the Knooling mill, which is engraved with a spiral groove in the diagonal direction, which applies pressure to the grain in parallel. The grain slag that is rolled out is much like steam-produced grain, but the proportion of particles in the slag is higher. However, the starch of its grain is rarely gelatinized.
The feed value of the micronized grain is slightly lower or nearly the same as the feed value of the steam pressed grain. The data shows that the performance of cattle fed micronized grains is related to the proportion of roughage in the diet. This also indicates that the fineness of the feed is one of the factors of feed intake and animal performance.
3 wet processing method
In recent times, there has been a great deal of interest in the application of high-humidity cereals, especially corn and sorghum. From the point of view of the initial equipment investment, this processing method is relatively cheap. This method is very feasible for many breeders who produce, harvest and feed their own grain to cattle. Suitable humidity ranges for storing high humidity cereals range from 26% to 30%. The dryer the grain, the more complex the processing. When the water content is less than 25%, it is recommended to add water when the grain is ground. Corn, sorghum and barley with high moisture have a slightly higher feeding value than dry milling and improved feeding efficiency. Compared with dry-ground corn, ground high-moisture corn can increase feeding efficiency by 5%-15%, and beef cattle gains increase accordingly.
3.1 steam rolling
This processing began in the 1930s. Steam is applied to the grain instantaneously before the grain reaches the roller compactor. The moisture content of cereals usually increases by 1% to 2%. Because steam readily penetrates into the oat and barley epidermis, they are more suitable for this processing than corn, sorghum and other grains.
The value of steam-rolled grain is rarely higher than that of dry-rolled grain. If you want to increase the value of the feed, the time to apply steam to the grain must be extended by more than 1-2 minutes.
3.2 steam production
This method uses gravity to fill the grain into the extended steam chamber, and high-humidity steam is applied to increase the moisture content of the grain to 18%-20%. The residence time of the grain in the vapor chamber depends on the type of grain and its water content. Usually the residence time of corn is 10-20 min and the sorghum is 15-30 min. Wheat, barley and oats take slightly less time than corn, at 6-10 min.
When the grains are steam treated, they reach the bottom of the steam chamber by gravity, where there are two stainless steel rollers. The gap between the two rollers is set depending on the type of grain, the grooves of the rollers and the thickness of the desired cereal pieces. Production efficiency is also affected by the gap setting of the rollers. For sorghum, the usual roller gap is about 0.51 mm and the corn is 0.78-2.1 mm.
The volume of the steam chamber should be close to 1/3 of the volume of the roller compactor. Therefore, if the output of the roller compactor is 3 t sheets per hour, the volume of the steam chamber is 1 t.
The steam chamber is located directly above the roller compactor to allow continuous operation of the machine. The correct combination of moisture, heat and pressure results in physical and chemical changes in the grain. The main chemical change in the production of cereal steam is the breakdown of starch molecules, called gelation. The degree of gelatinization of starch is one of the important factors that increase the value of grain feeding. However, excessive gelation can reduce the animal's performance and feed feeding value, and may also lead to acidosis of the meat. Studies have shown that 30%-50% gelation of feed is ideal.
When the grain is subjected to pressurized steam treatment before being crushed, the processed grain is pressure steam sheeting or pressure sheeting. The entire grain steam time is 1 min or 2 min.
The temperature of the produced cereals from the compactor can exceed 93.3oC and the water content can reach 16%-20%. Therefore, if the processed grain is stored for a few hours before feeding, it is necessary to use a conveyor belt with ventilation.
The best result of steam-produced cereals is that the processed product per bushel is 10-12.8 kg in air-dried conditions (containing 10% moisture). Lighter than this, the starch is excessively gelatinized.
When feeding high-concentrate diets to beef cattle (more than 90% of concentrate), the flakes are better than thick flakes. Adding thin corn to high-concentration diets can increase beef cattle weight by 4%-5% and increase feed efficiency by 8%-10%. However, at low concentrate levels (60%-80%), the flakes have little or no difference from the slabs.
Steam production has already had a huge impact on beef cattle diets, increasing the feeding value of sorghum. Most of the fattening personnel who use sorghum as the main concentrate now use steam production to process sorghum. The feeding value of corn has also increased, but it is not as significant as that of sorghum. Steam tableting improves feeding efficiency by 5%-10% compared to ground sorghum. However, the weight gain of feeding corn cattle was similar to that of ground corn.
For high-precision diets, when the sorghum is used instead of the ground sorghum to feed the beef cattle, the daily feed consumption rate increases by 5%-10%. However, instead of grinding corn with flake corn, the daily feed consumption rate of beef cattle is reduced by 5%-10%. Cattle breeders currently fed steam-strewn sorghum can gain the same weight gain as feeding the ground corn to cattle, and feeding efficiency is the same.
3.3 soaking
This method is suitable for extremely hard and extremely brittle cereals that soften their waxy shell and endosperm when soaked in water. If the grain is soaked for more than 24-36 hours before feeding, the feed will be fermented.
Soaking in water for 12-24h can temporarily increase the consumption of grain by beef cattle. However, continuous feeding of the soaked feed without pulverizing or deep processing the soaked feed does not increase the feed value or animal performance. The effect of adding water to very dry diets is not obvious, so there is a small advantage to dry feed soaking.
3.4 germination
Germinated feed (mainly grain), mainly used for feeding livestock in winter or when there is no fresh roughage. They are rich in many vitamins and minerals, but the energy value of germinated feed is very low. Whether or not the grain is germinated should be determined by comparing the germination cost of the feed with the feeding value of the germinated feed.
3.5 Wet blasting
Wet blasting is to put the dried grain into a high-pressure container made of high-strength material, pressurize it under steam pressure of 17.31kg/cm2 for 20s, then suddenly release the pressure, and the grain will instantly expand into a spherical shape. 30%-40% larger than the original. Various grains can be processed by this method, but especially the sorghum has the best puffing effect.
The value of the grain processed in this way has not yet been obtained. Depending on the processing method described and the physical characteristics of the final product, the feeding value may be similar to the grain processed by the popcorn method.
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