Application of cottonseed meal in ruminant feed
Adding cottonseed meal to cattle feed Wanapat et al. (2013) used a Latin square design to study the effects of carbon sources and cottonseed meal levels in the diet on feed intake, rumen fermentation and lactation of dairy cows. The results showed that feeding high content of cottonseed The total feed intake of cattle fed meal diet was significantly higher than that of the low cottonseed meal content group (P<0.05), while feeds with different cottonseed meal contents had no significant effect on the total amount of bacteria that can decompose cellulose and protein in the rumen (P >0.05). Studies have shown that when the amount of whole cottonseed increased from 13% to 23%, the production of CH4 in the rumen was significantly reduced, and the average body weight gain and milk production of lactating cows were reduced by 31% and 10% respectively. Jing Yuanqiang et al. (2012) used cottonseed meal to replace soybean meal in the diet and studied the dietary protein level and the effect of cottonseed meal replacing soybean meal on beef cattle fattening. The results showed that at the same protein level, using cottonseed meal to replace soybean meal in whole or in part had an impact on beef cattle fattening. The effects of weight gain and various slaughter performance indicators were not significant (P>0.05), but the unit price of the diet and the cost of weight gain per kilogram of beef cattle in the cottonseed meal group were lower than those of the soybean meal group. Therefore, cottonseed meal should be used in the later stages of fattening of beef cattle. Substituting soybean meal can effectively reduce costs.
In summary, the application effect of cottonseed meal in dairy cow feed is not ideal and may reduce the production performance of dairy cows, thereby affecting economic benefits. In the breeding of beef cattle, the timely and appropriate use of cottonseed meal can bring better economic benefits. Therefore, research on the improvement of cottonseed meal processing technology still needs to be carried out. In future research, efforts should be made to improve the quality of cottonseed meal and make it an excellent protein source.