Effects of Fresh Rice Straw Silage on Feeding Performance During the Late Stage of Fattening in Japanese Black Steers

Abstract

This experiment was designed to compare the effects of fresh rice straw silage with dry rice straw on feeding performance during the late stage of fattening (20-26 months of age) in Japanese Black Steers. The dry matter intake of fresh rice straw silage was significantly higher than the intake of dry rice straw.
In addition, decline of plasma retinol concentration in the animals was suppressed by providing fresh rice straw silage, although, the plasma α-tocopherol concentration was found to be increased. These results suggest that fresh rice straw silage can be used as roughage during the late stage of fattening, and that it does not affect the beef marbling or the risk of anorexia induced by vitamin A deficiency disease.
Furthermore, it is possible that feeding cattle fresh rice straw silage increases the economic value of the beef because of the increased α-tocopherol content in the longissimus muscle.