Progressive Dairyman - Dairyland Laboratories, Inc.

Fermentrics: A new ration evaluation tool
Bill Mahanna for Progressive Dairyman
Fermentrics is a nutritional
diagnostic report unique in that
it contains data generated from a
novel, gas-fermentation method
popular among European academic
researchers. There are only a few
university and corporate product
development research labs in North
America with gas-fermentation
systems and they are not capable of
processing and handling the sample
volume needed in a commercial
offering. The desire to provide
a more dynamic and diagnostic
nutritional tool led to an August
2010 joint initiative between
Dairyland Laboratories, Inc. and
RFS Technologies to commercialize
Fermentrics and make this cuttingedge analysis more widely available
to commercial dairymen and their
nutritionists.
Jay Johnston, CEO of RFS
Technologies and Ritchie Feed and
Seed in Ottawa, Canada, is the
developer of Fermentrics. He became
intrigued with the gas-fermentation
system as a tool for quantifying the
variability among feed ingredients
his mills were purchasing and
for evaluating on-farm rations.
He has spent the past 15 years
developing, refining and field testing
an automated system to provide a
unique perspective on the dynamics
of nutrient digestion not available
from current laboratory analyses.
A gas-fermentation analysis report
(See Figure 1) provides traditional
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Jay Johnston, CEO of RFS
Technologies and Ritchie Feed
and Seed in Ottawa, Canada,
demonstrates gas-fermentation
feedstuff anaylsis.
Courtesy photo by Bill Mahanna.
nutritional parameters (e.g.,
NDF, starch, CP etc.) along with
carbohydrate pool digestion rates (e.g.,
C:B1, C:B2 and C:B3). It also provides
other unique analytes, such as direct
measurement of microbial biomass
production (MBP) and a microbial
approach to measuring soluble
protein.
In vitro (test tube) and in situ
(fistulated cattle) methods are
currently being used at commercial
laboratories to characterize the
digestion kinetics of starch and fiber
by analyzing the feed before and
after incubation. However, due to the
labor and expense, these methods
typically provide a very limited
number of data points (e.g., sevenhour starch digestibility or 24-hour
NDF digestibility). Fermentrics is a
tremendous step forward by utilizing
a highly automated system where
individual feed or TMR samples
are combined with rumen fluid in a
closed vessel, from which 5,000 data
points are collected over a 48-hour
incubation. The system monitors
gaseous fermentation products
(carbon dioxide [CO2] and methane)
of microbial metabolism, in addition
to CO2 produced by the buffering of
short-chained fatty acids produced by
the rumen bacteria.
The use of sophisticated
curve-peeling software then makes
it possible to estimate carbohydrate
digestion rates (Kd) by separating
the gas production into a “fast
pool” (primarily C:B1-starch and
C:B2-soluble fiber) and a “slow pool”
(primarily C:B3-insoluble available
fiber, NDF). It should be noted that
these pools are not homogeneous
because there can be both slow and
fast pools within each carbohydrate
type – in other words, the slow
pool, typically comprised mostly of
NDF, may also contain some slowly
digested starch. However, by using
equations gleaned from the European
literature, it is possible to estimate
the digestion rates of the B1, B2
and B3 pools commonly defined in
more sophisticated ration-balancing
software, such as the Cornell Model.
This allows nutritionists who are
using these software packages the
ability to more accurately populate
their feed libraries with measured
Continued on page 66
64
Progressive Dairyman
Issue 6 • April 11, 2012
Figure 1
aPartitioning Factor: larger number (>4) means
more efficient fermentation with less gas (acetate)
and propionate driving more energy (ATP) and
microbial biomass yield. PF is calculated as:
(VFA + microbial protein)/gas production
More gas = less efficient with less ATP
Description: pen 88 TMR
Sample #: 75354
120
Total gas produced
(black curve)
100
MI Gas Produced per 400 mg Sample
Moisture, %
Dry Matter, %
Crude Protein, %
AD-ICP, %CP
ND-ICP, %CP
SP (BB), %CP
SP (Microbial), %CP
Lignin %
ADF %
aNDF %
peNDF
EE %
Sugar %
Starch %
NFC %
aPartitioning Factor
aOMD (%DM)
TDN (Est.)
NE/Lact, Mcal/lb
NE/Maint, Mcal/lb
NE/Gain, Mcal/lb
Ash %
Calcium (Ca), %
Phosphorus (P), %
Potassium (K), %
Magnesium (Mg), %
Sodium (Na), %
Gas produced from fast pool (orange curve). Do not like to see
this much higher than 40 ml of gas indicating too much acetate
(which produces gas) and not as much propionate (no gas, more
ATP) coming from the fast pool nutrients
80
60
40
Microbial Biomass Production
Gas produced
from slow pool
(green curve)
20
137.5
Low
0
0
0
Estimated Kd’s for
B1, B2 and B3
pools. Fast pool
rates should be
greater than B1
rates as the fast
pool also contains
soluble fibers,
pectins etc. Prefer
the B1 rate
~18-20%/hr and
B3 rate ~ 5-6%/hr
5
10
Digestion Rates
Fast Pool (Kd/hr)
Slow Pool (Kd/hr)
C:B1 (Kd/hr)
C:B2 (Kd/hr)
C:B3 (Kd/hr)
15
20
25
30
Time (Hr)
(mg/g)
Optimal
60
180
35
40
Fast
45
Slow
50
Total
Relative Times to Max Rate
Relative Pool Contributions
ml gas % of total
Max (hr)
Fast Pool
36.54 36.74%
Fast Pool
1
Slow Pool
62.90 63.26%
Slow Pool
11
2-Pool Total
99.43
More than a 10-hour difference in
Amount of gas from the fast pool vs. slow
“Time to Max” between fast vs. slow
pool. Over 40ml gas from fast pool
pools can lead to asynchrony of
indicates considerable acetate production
digestion causing production problems.
and less propionate production as
propionate produces minimal gas.
50.99
4.68
20.12
50.99
4.68
DM
53.4
46.6
18.4
1.0
2.95
41.21
30.15
2.87
17.54
26.7
22.80
4.94
6.7
25.91
42.47
2.85
67.59
73.16
0.76
0.82
0.54
8.35
1.22
0.53
1.85
0.42
0.54
Fermentrics™
www.fermentrics.com
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Fermentrics: A new ration evaluation tool, cont’d from page 64
carbohydrate digestion rates rather
than relying on book values or rates
estimated from single, time-point
measurements, like 24-hour NDF
digestion.
Fermentrics also reports a
microbial biomass production (MBP)
value measured directly by analyzing
the substrate that remains after a
48-hour incubation with a NDF
analysis. The difference between the
weight of the substrate before and
after NDF analysis is the microbial
biomass (e.g., the entire organism, not
just the microbial protein). Current
ranges in MBP for TMRs are from
66
60 to 160 mg per g, with higher MBP
values associated with higher milk
production.
One of the limitations of a gas
fermentation system is that, without
knowing which VFAs are being
produced, you can not accurately
predict the energy (adenosine
triphosphate. ATP) coming from the
feed to support microbial growth. For
example, apparent organic matter
digestibility (aOMD) is a value on the
report and is defined as the percent of
organic matter that disappeared in the
system. However, a high or low aOMD
does not explain which VFAs were
produced from the digested organic
matter. If acetate is produced, more
gas is generated, yielding less ATP for
microbial growth compared to when
propionate is produced.
Several researchers have
employed gas chromatography to
detail VFA production in an attempt
to predict ATP generation. A recent
enhancement by the RFS Technologies
lab is the ability to quantify, in real
time, the level of methane and CO2
produced in the system. This will
aid in the understanding of which
VFAs are being produced at what
time in the incubation and allow
Progressive Dairyman
further insight as to how this impacts
the growth of the rumen microbial
population.
The data on a Fermentrics report
can help guide nutritionists as to
the direction of corrective action
when animals are not performing to
expectations or can be used as a way
to benchmark rations when animals
are exhibiting superior performance.
The author and his colleagues have
four years of applied experience
using Fermentrics data generated
on over 525 forage, grain and TMR
samples.
Fermentrics is an integrative
approach, so multiple analytes must
be considered in relationship to
each other. One of our first lesson in
interpreting Fermentrics reports was
that differences among feedstuffs or
rations does not reside only in the
total amount of gas produced but in
the relative gas pool sizes, rates, time
for each pool to reach maximum
rates and the total microbial biomass
produced during the incubation. A
helpful approach that Jay Johnston
implemented with his nutritionists
was to group TMRs into one of four
major quadrants (Figure 3).
Quadrant I is typical of a herd
with good production, components
and feed efficiency and is opposed
to Quadrant III, which is prone to
acidosis from a too fast “fast pool” and
a too slow “slow pool.” Interestingly,
over 75 percent of the TMR rations
we have diagnosed with Fermentrics
fall in Quadrant III, showing how
prevalent acidosis is in the dairy
industry. The Dairyland website
(http://www.dairylandlabs.com)
contains a document showing the
target value and distribution statistics
for the key Fermentrics metrics on 275
TMRs analyzed in 2011.
A recent example of the applied
use of Fermentrics data involved a
herd transitioning to new-crop corn
silage and experiencing low intakes,
stiff manure and reduced milk
production. Fermentrics analysis
of the TMR showed an extremely
fast “fast pool” along with very high
gas production. The elevated gas
production suggested that the cause
of the excessively fast “fast pool”
was due to the B2 (soluble fiber) pool
producing lots of methane and CO2
(along with acetate) rather than from
fermentable starch (B1).
Supplementing this TMR with
additional soluble fiber sources
would only result in the production
of more gas. In this situation, more
energy from propionate (whose
pathway does not directly produce
gas) was needed to drive energy for
increasing microbial biomass and
improving milk production. The herd
did respond to the addition of starch
and the removal of some mature, high
dry matter alfalfa silage. Without
the knowledge provided by the
Fermentrics report, the nutritionist
may have chosen a different approach
and lost valuable production waiting
Issue 6 • April 11, 2012
Figure 3
Four quadrants for benchmarking TMRs
QUADRANT I
QUADRANT II
Quadrant (and Kd’s) where cows are typically
milking well, but watch for any sudden changes
in feed delivery or consistency.
Not enough energy.
Symptoms
•Grain in manure
•Low milk protein
•Milk yield lower than expected
•Rough hair coats
•Poor reproduction
Symptoms
•Good manure consistency
•High dry matter intakes (DMI)
•Excellent milk yield
•Exceptional feed conversion ~ 1.7
TMR Rates
CB1 Kd: 18 - 20%/hr
CB3 Kd: 5 - 6/hr
TMR Rates
Small pool of CB1 that disappears quickly
CB3 Kd: 5 - 6%/hr
Consider
•Increasing supply of rumen available starch
and sugar (get B1 rates closer to 20-22%)
•Grinding grains finer
•Ensure adequate supply of peptide & NPN protein
Consider
•Ensure enough NPN and peptides
to feed rumen bacteria.
Bill Mahanna
Nutritional Sciences
Manager
Pioneer
[email protected]
for the cows to show a response.
The Fermentrics report can be
a powerful diagnostic tool to assist
nutritionists in making data-driven
ration adjustments. Now that gasfermentation has exited the research
lab and is available to consulting
nutritionists, interpreting the data
and relating it to practical on-farm
solutions will require time and
experience no different than that
QUADRANT III
QUADRANT IV
Where the majority of “problem” herds
reside. High acidosis potential due to a
fast “fast pool” and a slow “slow pool.”
Symptoms
•Sore Feet - Repro problems - Poor DMI
•Ketosis in early lactation cows
•Fiber in Manure - Low rumen pH
•Variability in body condition score
•Fat/Protein Inversion in >10% of the herd
TMR Rates
CB1 Kd: >25%/hr
CB3 Kd: <5%/hr
Consider
•Increase NDFD by adding non-forage fiber
•Beet Pulp, Brewers Grains, Soyhulls
•Slow B1 to <21%
required following the introduction
of other analysis, such as peNDF,
NDFD or kernel processing scores.
Dairyland and RFS technologies
have also recently instituted a
“Fermentrics Advisory Board”
consisting of eight highly respected
Symptoms
Slow “fast pool” and
•Poor milk production
Slow “slow pool.”
•Early peak/poor peak milk
•Cows “look” OK
•Diet CP is OK - but manure is stiff
•Average milk components
•Very expensive ration per CWT
•Reproduction - delayed, but not bad
TMR Rates
CB1 Kd: >15%/hr
CB3 Kd: <5%/hr
Consider
•Increasing rumen available starch and sugar
•Grind grains finer
•Increase NDFD by adding non forage fiber
•Add beet pulp, brewers, soyhulls, more digestible forages
academic, feed company and
independent dairy nutritionists to
further guide the future development
of Fermentrics. For more detailed
information on pricing and
interpretation guides, see either the
Dairyland (http://www.dairylandlabs.
com) or Fermentrics (http://www.
fermentrics.com/) websites. PD
Mahanna is a nutritionist with
Pioneer, a DuPont Business, and
an adjunct professor at Iowa State
University.
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Progressive Dairyman67