ABSTRACT
Objective
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of an energy supplement with
monensin on CH4 emissions and performance of stocker calves grazing winter wheat.
Materials and Methods
Eight steers and 8 heifers were grazed in a 9-ha winter wheat pasture, and CH4 emissions were recorded. Animals were randomly assigned within sex to receive from
0 to 1.07 kg of a supplement (as fed, primarily ground corn, wheat middlings, and
34 mg/kg monensin) per day. Animals were supplemented 3 d per week in individual stalls
and orts were weighed. Forage intake was estimated with TiO2 as an external marker. As several independent variables were available, dependent
variables of interest were subjected to backward stepwise regression with baseline
CH4, total supplement intake, forage intake, initial BW, sex, and monensin dose in the
model.
Results and Discussion
Animal performance increased, but at a decreasing rate, with increased total supplement
intake and forage intake (P < 0.02; R2 = 0.47). Supplement intake reduced forage intake (P < 0.01; R2 = 0.77) with initial BW and sex in the model. Methane emissions increased with increasing
forage intake and initial BW, but heifers produced less CH4 than steers (P < 0.01; R2 = 0.74). Increasing supplement intake reduced CH4 emission intensity (g of CH4/kg of BW gain; P = 0.03) when baseline CH4 was included in the model.
Implications and Applications
Taken together, these results suggest that supplementation with energy and monensin
likely reduces methane emission intensity, and provide equations useful for future
modeling efforts.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
May 23,
2019
Received:
December 31,
2018
Footnotes
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.
