Issue date: 12/1/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Christine Soriaga This hole, a fistula, is covered by a rubber device called a cannula, and helps researchers understand the cow's digestive process. The cannula does not inhibit the cows daily activities. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Christine Soriaga [Click to enlarge]

A cow with a large hole in its side is an interesting sight to behold. It is interesting to experience the sensation of having one's hand placed inside this hole, feeling the body warmth of the animal and smelling the odor diffusing from the cavity. Although it may seem odd, the hole is imperative to Texas A&M University scientific research on cattle nutrition.

The hole, a fistula, which is covered by a rubber device called a cannulae, is necessary for researchers to understand the animal's digestive processes. The device enables researchers to observe what an animal eats and excretes, and the cannulaeted hole is necessary to test and sample the activities that happen in the first two compartments of the ruminant stomach, the reticulum and the rumen.

The cannulae is a large rubber ring that conforms to the cow inside the rumen and outside on the hide. It is placed in a calf when the animal weighs roughly 500 pounds. The device does not inhibit the cow's daily activities other than when it is used for the research.

A cap covers the hole, which is big enough to fit an arm, and completely seals the contents inside.

By observing firsthand the activities inside a cow's stomach, researchers can evaluate how to give the cows the most efficient diet possible.

The research focuses on what the cows eat and how to supplement them if they do not meet the demands of the producer.

"What we're trying to do is improve utilization of forage, so if you go out and look at all the grass around the countryside, our goal is to try and help cattle and other ruminants utilize that forage to serve as a source of food, fiber and milk for humans," said Tryon Wickersham, assistant professor of animal nutrition and ruminant nutritionist.

The goal of the research is to provide cattle ranchers with an online decision-making tool that will inform them of what supplements to provide based upon the quality of forage they have available.

For example, if a rancher has low-quality forage, it is more cost effective for them to supplement protein in small amounts than to feed larger amounts of high-energy feed.

"From a producer's standpoint, it is easier for them to use the forage they have available, low quality or high quality, rather than having to [purchase] feed for their cows," said Morgan Cabaniss, an animal science graduate student.

Amber Skinner, an animal science graduate student, said the objective is to find the most cost-effective way to feed these cattle for them to grow and maintain themselves efficiently. In the end, that is the goal.

The implications of the research reach past the producers who maintain the cattle. They reach into the pocketbooks of Americans who eat beef.

"Our country can't survive without the beef industry," Skinner said. "The more money we can save for the producer in the long run will benefit the consumer."

In the event that the forage supply is insufficient to maintain a quality diet for the animal, the research conducted is focusing on the right nutrient and mineral supplements to give the cow to sustain a healthy diet.

"It will help a producer that has a low quality forage be able to feed that low quality forage by supplementing it with a protein source," Cabaniss said. "So not only will they not have to buy an expensive feed at the co-op, they will just have to buy a protein supplement. If they can instead use the forage they have available, it's more cost effective and economically feasible."

"You can apply it not only in this country, but to other countries that don't have the same feeding systems we do," he said. "They can still use what we do to improve what they do. In developing countries they can improve food production, and get more stable food productions."

Research on ruminal nutrition also extends to the environment. The cattle's excretion and the nutrients it contains could potentially have a negative impact on the environment, and the research focuses on making this process more efficient as well.

"If we can reduce nitrogen use or improve the efficiency of nitrogen utilization by cattle, we can reduce nitrogen and phosphorus loss to the environment and we will increase profitability because nitrogen is expensive," Wickersham said. "If we can help them cature these nutrients better, we can reduce nutrient excretion and, which will reduce the environmental footprint of beef production."

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