Evaluating agro-industrial by-products as dietary roughage source on growth performance of fattening steers

Silages from pineapple peel, sweet corn husk and cob mixed with bagasse and vinasse were evaluated to determine their chemical composition and fermentation characteristics as well as feeding performance in fattening steers. The experiment, which lasted 90 days, involved 48 fattening steers (264 ± 37.4 kg BW) randomly allocated to three diets. Treatments included: a control diet containing rice straw and molasses (T1); diet containing bagasse–vinasse mixture including sweet corn husk and cob silage (BS; T2); and diet containing bagasse–vinasse mixture including pineapple peel silage (BP; T3). All treatments included a commercial concentrate feed (13% CP) and ad libitum rice straw throughout the experiment. Results from chemical analysis showed that dry matter (DM) of BS was higher than BP (P < 0.05), whereas the protein content of BS and BP was similar (P > 0.05). For fermentation characteristics, pH in BP was lower than BS (P < 0.05); in addition, acetic and butyric acids in BS were higher than BP (P < 0.05). Findings from growth trial showed that total DM intake in steers fed T1 was higher compared to the other dietary treatments (P < 0.05), whereas the average BW gain was found to be grater in T3 steers (P < 0.05). As result from our findings, bagasse–vinasse mixture with pineapple peel silage appeared to be a viable feed ingredient in fattening steer diet and moreover it could become an economically feasible agro-industrial by-product for farmers.