Feeding Bakery Former Foodstuffs and Wheat Distiller’s as Partial Replacement for Corn and Soybean Enhances the Environmental Sustainability and Circularity of Beef Cattle Farming

The effects of the partial substitution of corn and soybean meals with bakery former foodstuffs (BFF) and wheat wet distiller’s grains (WDGs) on environmental sustainability, production performance, and health status were evaluated in beef cattle. Newly arrived Limousine beef heifers (n = 408) house...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2022-05, Vol.14 (9), p.4908
Main Authors: Grossi, Silvia, Massa, Valentina, Giorgino, Andrea, Rossi, Luciana, Dell’Anno, Matteo, Pinotti, Luciano, Avidano, Filippo, Compiani, Riccardo, Rossi, Carlo Angelo Sgoifo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bakeries
Beef
Beef cattle
Carbon dioxide
Carcasses
Cattle
Cereals
Conformation
Conversion ratio
Corn
Digestibility
Emissions
Environmental impact
Farming
Feed conversion
Feeds
Food waste
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Land use
Livestock
Livestock farming
Meals
Nutrition research
Pectin
Proteins
Soybeans
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Vegetables
Wheat
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Summary:The effects of the partial substitution of corn and soybean meals with bakery former foodstuffs (BFF) and wheat wet distiller’s grains (WDGs) on environmental sustainability, production performance, and health status were evaluated in beef cattle. Newly arrived Limousine beef heifers (n = 408) housed an intensive farm in Campagnatico (Grosseto, Italy) were balanced for initial weight and body conformation and then randomly divided in two groups: (i) Traditional corn–soybean meal diet; (ii) Circular diet with average as-fed 1.5 kg BFF and 1.5 kg WDGs as substitute for 1.6 kg corn and 0.3 kg soybean meal. The environmental impact of the diet was analyzed considering greenhouse gases emissions (GHG, kg CO2 eq), water (H2O, L), and land use (LU, m2) as well as consumption of human-edible feeds (HE, kg). The growth performance, feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass characteristics, apparent total tract digestibility (aTTD), and health status of heifers were evaluated. The Circular diet led to a reduction per kg of cold carcass weight (CCW) of 1.00 kg CO2 eq of GHG, 72.38 L of H2O, 1.20 m2 of LU, and 0.95 kg of HE (p < 0.0001). Growth performances, carcass characteristics, and health status were not affected (p > 0.05). Sugar and pectin aTTD were significantly higher (p < 0.0001) in the Circular group. Replacing traditional feed ingredients with BFF and WDGs reduced the environmental impact of the diet of fattening Limousine heifers and the food competition between humans and beef cattle in accordance with circular economy principles.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su14094908