Effect of ammonia fiber expansion on the available energy content of wheat straw fed to lactating cattle and buffalo in India

The seasonal lack of availability of lush green forages can force dairy farmers in developing nations to rely on crop residues such as wheat and rice straw as the major feed source. We tested whether ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) treatment of wheat straw would increase the energy available to Murrah buffalo and Karan-Fries cattle consuming 70% of their diet as wheat straw in India. Forty lactating animals of each species were blocked by parity and days in milk and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment diets (n = 10). Treatments were a nutrient-rich diet with 0 to 20% straw (positive control; PC) and 3 high-straw diets with various levels of AFEX-treatment: (1) 70% untreated straw (no AFEX), (2) 40 to 45% untreated straw with 25 to 30% AFEX-treated straw (low AFEX), and (3) 20% untreated straw with 50% AFEX-treated straw (high AFEX). The AFEX-treated straw was pelleted. Urea was added to the no and low AFEX diets so they were isonitrogenous with the high AFEX diet. Animals were individually fed the PC diet for 14 d followed by 7 d of adaptation to treatments, full treatments for 28 to 35 d, and finally PC diets for 21 d. Compared with buffalo fed the PC diet, those fed high-straw diets consumed 29% less feed dry matter, put out 16% less milk energy, and lost 0.8 kg/d more body weight; the AFEX treatment of straw did not alter intake or milk production but greatly ameliorated the body weight loss (−1.0 kg/d for no AFEX and −0.07 kg/d for high AFEX). In Karan-Fries cattle, high-straw diets decreased dry matter intake by 39% and milk energy by 24%, and the high AFEX diet increased intake by 42% and milk energy by 18%. The AFEX treatment increased digestibilities of organic matter, dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and crude protein by 6 to 13 percentage points in buffalo and 5 to 10 points in cattle. In conclusion, AFEX treatment increased the digestibility and energy availability of wheat straw for lactating buffalo and cattle and has commercial potential to improve milk production and feed efficiency when high-quality forages or grains are not available.