Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange
Abstract
The main purpose of this body of research was to evaluate carinata meal as a feedstuff for dairy heifers and lay the foundations for its future evaluation in lactating dairy cow diets. This research focused on evaluating the taste preference of carinata meal compared with other oilseeds meals and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Despite containing glucosinolates, carinata meal was preferred similarly to canola meal, had greater preference compared to camelina meal, and less preference compared to the other meals. Next, we used a limit-feeding strategy in two different feeding studies, to determine the effect of feeding carinata meal cold-pressed and solvent-extracted on DMI, nutrient digestibility, growth rate, metabolic profile and the onset of puberty of growing Holstein heifers compared to other protein sources such as DDGS, canola meal, and soybean products. Feeding cold-pressed or solvent extracted carinata meal at 10% of the diet (dry matter basis) maintained growth performance of dairy heifers without negatively affecting the metabolic profile, thyroid function nor the onset of puberty and was comparable to DDGS, canola meal, and soybean products. However, a period of adaptation to cold-pressed carinata meal should be allowed for the heifers to adapt. The final study demonstrated the viability of ensiling as an on-farm option to decrease the glucosinolate content of carinata meals either cold-pressed or solvent extracted with increased protein content and quality of corn silage and alfalfa silage without affecting the fermentation characteristics of the silage
