Ensiling Properties of Wet Sugarbeet Pulp and the Addition of Liquid Feedstuffs or Urea

Abstract

Feed costs, a major expense in animal production, may be reduced by including locally and regionally grown crops and local crop processing byproducts in animal diets. About half of the U.S. sugarbeet crop is produced and processed in North Dakota and Minnesota. Therefore, sug­ arbeet byproducts are readily available to the region's live­ stock producers. Two experiments were conducted to characterize the ensiling properties of wet sugarbeet pulp (WBP; 25% DM). In Experiment 1, a 4 x 3 factorial treat­ ment arrangement was used to define responses of ensiling WBP based on 1) formulated silage dry matter (DM) con­ centrations of 25,30,35, and 40%, and 2) inclusion of liq­ uid feedstuffs (molasses, concentrated separator byprod­ uct, and corn steep liquor). Experiment 2 was designed to evaluate the addition of 0.41% urea to WBP silage. In Experiment 1, lactic acid production increased (linear, P < 0.01) with the addition of all liquid feedstuffs. Though volatile fatty acid concentration was greatest (quadratic, P < 0.01) at 30% DM for molasses and concentrated separa­ tor byproduct, total organic acid production was enhanced with increasing silage DM only for the molasses treatment (linear, P =0.002). As expected, in Experiment 2, ensiled products which included urea had greater crude protein