Objectives
The objective of the steer feedlot trial was to determine the feedlot performance of cattle fed flax or sunflower seeds in either the first 60 days, or the last 60 days of the feeding period on health, performance and carcass traits. The objective of the wether digestibility trial was to evaluate the impacts of flaxseed inclusion level and processing on the palatability and digestibility of flaxseed containing diets for ruminants.
Project Description
The results of the steer feedlot trial indicate that inclusion of ground flax or whole sunflower into the diet of feedlot cattle may result in an initial decline in intake that affected gain. However, when cattle went to slaughter, the only impact of dietary inclusion of ground flax or whole sunflower was an increase in ribeye area with subsequent impact on estimated carcass lean yield. The results of wether digestibility trial indicate that when barley grain and barley silage based diets were supplemented with flaxseed and fed to weaned wethers, there was no effect on voluntary intake, or nutrient digestibility associated with processing or inclusion levels of up to approximately 17% of DM (12% of diet on a wet weight basis). However, anecdotal evidence from this and other trials suggests that diets supplemented with high levels of processed flax are less palatable.
Given the observations from the steer trial, it can be stated that ground flax and whole sunflower seed have substantial value in feedlot diets. The results of the wether trial imply that flax may be included at low levels in barley grain and barley silage based diets for wethers without processing, and without negative effects on intake or digestibility, although these observations are likely to vary with ruminant species.
