![Principal coordinates analysis based on unweighted (A) and weighted (B) UniFrac distances of different levels of residual feed intake. Analyses based on 9999 permutations. Low-RFI is represented by a blue circle (n = 8), and high-RFI is represented by a red square (n = 6). Credit: <i>Ruminants</i> (2022). DOI: 10.3390/ruminants2020019″ width=”800″ height=”398″/><figcaption class= Rresearchers study the feed efficiency of pregnant angus heifers](https://oponame.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Researchers-study-feed-efficiency-of-pregnant-Angus-heifers.jpg)
While beef production has historically focused on increasing the feed efficiency of steers to produce a marketable beef product, researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture are studying the feed efficiency of heifers, whose health and pregnancies allowed the production to succeed.
The research is led by Phillip Myer, an associate professor in the Department of Animal Science, who specializes in the microbiology of the four-chambered stomach of grazing animals. Gabbi Martin, a graduate student in the Department of Animal Science, works with Myer. The team is examining the nutritional physiological changes that occur during gestation, the impact of these changes on the rumen (stomach) environment, and the resulting feed efficiency in Angus heifers. The information will allow beef producers to modify their strategies to improve the overall sustainability of heifers and their calves.
“Ideally, the cow is a long-term constituent of a herd, and looking at the rumen environment is important to improve cow-calf enterprise,” says Myer. “This work is important for determining the rumen microbial changes that occur in heifers during gestation and their impact on nutrition and feed efficiency.”
For producers, it is optimal to have cows capable of producing efficient calves while maintaining a stable and efficient rumen through all stages of production, including gestation. To achieve this, Myer and his team study the changes that occur in the rumen environment and determine the impact of these changes on the host. This information will improve the sustainability of the cow-calf business.
“I am excited about the current and future implications of this work in the context of producing and promoting high quality beef for Tennessee producers,” says Martin, who is a fifth-generation farmer.
Research for the project titled “Influences of Pregnancy on the Feed Efficiency and Rumen Environment of Angus Heifers in the Production of a Quality Beef Product” began in October 2021 and is being conducted at East Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center near Knoxville and at the Plateau AgResearch and Education Center in Crossville.
Since the beginning of the project, the team has produced a publication in Ruminants which details several potential biomarkers of feed efficiency in low and high feed efficiency heifers. Additionally, the research team found correlations between rumen bacteria and metabolites found in rumen fluid. Other publications should follow.
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Brooke A. Clemmons et al, Ruminal Bacterial Communities and Metabolome Variation in Beef Heifers Divergent in Feed Efficiency, Ruminants (2022). DOI: 10.3390/ruminants2020019
Provided by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
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