Evaluation Of Silage Additives For Improvement Of Hybrid Simmental Bulls Fattening Performance And Meat Quality

The beef cattle industry is an important industry in Gansu Province and priority has been placedon improvement of production efficiencies. In recent years the development of plastic mulching hasincreased corn production capacity in Gansu. Consequently, Gansu has abundant forage resources,particularly forages from corn production and there is a need to identify technology to improve thenutritive value of corn silage in beef fattening operations. Recently developments in silage additivesto improve the volatile fatty acid composition have produced two products (Max200and MixⅡ,Sino&U.S.Centers on Grazingland Ecosystem Sustainability) that have not previously beenevaluated in beef fattening systems under Chinese conditions with breeds adapted to localenvironment. The beef cattle industry in the Hexi corridor is a prominent contributor to theagricultural economy and to beef production in Gansu. Local Hexi beef cattle were developed fromnative Hexi Black cattle by crossing with Simmental, thus producing locally adapted beef cattle withhigher production potential. The greater production potential of the Hexi cattle necessitates higherlevels of nutrition for efficient performance. Consequently it is imperative to identify methodology toincrease the nutritive value of feedstuffs to support the increased growth potential of these cattle.Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate feedlot and carcass performance of Hexi cattle fedsilage two commercial silage additives compared to cattle fed untreated corn silage.Research the effect of different treatment on temperature of corn silage fermentation, Max200and Mix-II treatment group compared with the control group, reducing the temperature the timeneeded was significantly shorter. Analysis of different treatments on pH of corn silage fermentation,the pH of Max200and Mix II treatment group dropped to4.3within a shorter time, namely theanaerobic fermentation rate is faster than that of the control group. Determination of fatteningperformance of Simmental hybrid cattle, the average daily gain of Mix II treatment group wassignificantly higher than control group (P<0.05) in the entire fattening period. Analysis of theeconomic benefits of fattening period, the market purchase price of the three groups are same,compared with the control group, Max200and Mix-II group increased by20.86%and22.61%respectively; at optimized prices, Max200and Mix-II treatment group income40.45%and42.34%more than the control group. On slaughter test, dressing percentage of Max200group wassignificantly higher than the control group (P<0.05); carcass loss ratio of the control group wassignificantly higher than Max200and Mix II group (P<0.05); the net meat percentage, carcass meatproduction rate and carcass backfat of Max200and Mix II treatment group were significantly higher than those in control group(P<0.05); rib eye muscle area of each treatment group has no significantdifference (P>0.05). Analysis of the effect of mature days on the longissimus muscle quality traitsshowed that shear force decreased gradually with the increased mature days, and on14th and21stday were significantly less than1st day (P<0.05); mature processing on pH change have a significanteffect, the pH value of meat decreased from6.34to6.06(P<0.05) on7th day and the pH valueremained constant on14th day.The results showed that:1. Silage treatment with Max200and MixⅡ reduced rates of temperature increases in fermentingsilage and thus reduced nutrient losses during the fermentation process.2. Using improved silage production technology and least-cost diet formulation for fattening cattleto fixed weight endpoints, daily gain and feed efficiency of the hybrid Simmental bulls in Hexiwas significantly increased, carcass quality was improved over the control group, and economicbenefits were increased.3. Increased days of aging carcasses after slaughter had a significant impact on meat quality.