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Alkagrain for beef: sustained performance, reduced costs

An account of a trial comparing the performance of dairy-bred bulls fed either a standard barley-based diet or alkagrain.

Year of Publication2011

Alkagrain is claimed to reduce harvest costs and improve food conversion and cattle health. This project was designed to determine if these claims are justified. One group of bulls was fed on a standard barley mix and another on alkagrain made from barley and their performance compared. No significant differences in growth rate or carcase characteristics were found but levels of liver damage appeared to be lower in the alkagrain-fed bulls which also showed better food conversion. Replacing barley mix with home-produced alkagrain can improve performance and reduce bought-in feed costs.

This item is categorised as follows

• Subject Collection > Livestock & dairy > Forage crops & other feed
• Subject Collection > Livestock & dairy > Beef production

Additional keywords/tags

home n dryanimal nutrition