Journal
JOURNAL OF DAIRY SCIENCE
Volume 95, Issue 2, Pages 755-758Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.3168/jds.2011-4648
Keywords
grape marc; dairy cattle; nitrogen metabolism; supplement
Funding
- Lincoln University
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The inclusion of the grape marc into livestock rations provides an opportunity not only to use a waste byproduct resourcefully, but also to induce beneficial metabolic changes in animals. Grape marc contains condensed tannins that could alter N metabolism, which would be beneficial from an environmental perspective. The objective was to determine if dietary grape marc could decrease urinary N excretion from nonlactating dairy cattle. Eighteen multiparous cows were randomly divided into 2 equal groups, receiving either (1) pasture + 2 kg of dry matter (DM)/d energy pellet per cow (control group) or (2) pasture + 2 kg of DM/d energy pellet per cow + 3 kg of DM/d grape marc per cow. Urine, fecal, and blood samples were collected at baseline (d 0) and at d 9. Cows receiving grape marc excreted 22% more N in feces compared with the control group. Cows offered grape marc had lower plasma urea nitrogen concentrations (2.42 and 2.97 +/- 0.1 mmol/L from treatment and control cows, respectively), but had no significant difference in urine urea concentration compared with control animals (84.24 and 114.1 +/- 17.62 mmol/L from treatment and control cows, respectively). Overall, the potential exists to alter N metabolism in dairy cows using dietary grape marc. The exact mechanisms causing this shift in N metabolism require further investigation.
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