Kernel processing (abbreviated as KP) involves passing harvested silage through a set of rollers mounted on the chopper. This is a standard recommendation for dairies, and it is becoming more commonly recommended for beef producers. The theory is that by processing the silage, the corn kernels and cob portions will be broken up, resulting in greater digestibility and less sorting. But does this extra step result in improved efficiency and reduced costs of gain?
Asking the question is important because, although beef and dairy cattle are obviously both bovine animals, they are not the same, at least when it comes to meeting their nutritional needs. Dairy cattle eat much more feed per day than do beef cattle. With greater feed intake comes a more rapid rate of passage through the digestive tract. Faster rate of passage equals reduced extent of feed digestion, simply because the feed is in the digestive tract for a shorter period. For that reason, interventions to improve feedstuff digestibility typically show greater response in dairy cattle compared to beef.
Investigating Beef Cattle Performance
We conducted two experiments at South Dakota State University to gain some insight into this question. In our first experiment, we fed silage (control compared to KP) at 65% of dry matter to backgrounding calves for 46 days. Our second experiment also compared normal to KP silage in finishing yearling steers with a 20% dry matter inclusion in the diet.
Source: sdstate.edu
Photo Credit: gettyimages-pamwalker68
Categories: South Dakota, Livestock, Beef Cattle