FAT SUPPLEMENTATION FOR BEEF CATTLE: EFFECT ON REPRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY AND CALF GROWTH

FAT SUPPLEMENTATION FOR BEEF CATTLE: EFFECT ON REPRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY AND CALF GROWTH F. Anez-Osuna 1, 2, H.A. (Bart) Lardner 1, 2, G. Penner 2, P. Jefferson 1, J. Campbell 3, C. Fitzsimmon 4 and J. McKinnon 2 1 Western Beef Development Centre, 2 Department of Animal and Poultry Science, 3 Western College of Veterinary Medicine, 4 University of Alberta

DAM NUTRITION DURING GESTATION AFFECTS OFFSPRING PERFORMANCE OF MANY MAMMAL SPECIES, INCLUDING BEEF CATTLE

FAT IN RUMINANT DIETS Precursors/inhibitors of hormones Increases diet energy density Improve energy balance during lactation Increase proprionate production 3

POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF FAT SUPPLEMENTATION Body Weight Condition Score Milk Production Milk Composition Conception Rate Pubertal Age Mammary Develop. Cold Tolerance Birth Weight Weaning Weight 4

SOURCES Soybeans Sunflower Flax Safflower Canola Tallow 5

FAT IN RUMINANT DIETS It is well established that under-nutrition in postpartum beef cows increases the time to onset of ovarian activity and first oestrus (Randel 1990; Short et al. 1990) Studies suggest direct positive or no effect on reproduction (Bellows et al. 1999) 6

FAT SUPPLEMENTATION PREPARTUM

FIRST CALF HEIFERS SUPPLEMENTED 65 D PREPARTUM Diet BCS % Cycling Preg Rate WW Control 5.6 68 79 402 Safflower 6.0 85 94 427 Soybean 5.8 76 90 435 Sunflower 6.0 76 91 434 Bellows et al., 1999

BACKGROUND Supplementing PUFA inhibits the secretion of PGF 2α increasing the survival of the corpora lutea and progesterone level (improve embryo survival) (Staples et al., 1998; Mattos et al. 2000) Fat type in ruminants diets has shown to have an effect on the fatty acid profile of milk 9

FIRST CALF HEIFERS SUPPLEMENTED 68 D PREPARTUM Diet BCS % Cycling % Pregnant Control 5.0 66 90 Sunflower 4.9 55 88 Bellows et al., 2001

BACKGROUND High fat supplements (5.2 %) had greater positive effect on cow reproductive performance compared to low-fat supplements (3.7 %) with similar energy content High fat supplemented (5.2 %) cows tended to have: Greater medium sized follicular populations and plasma metabolite concentrations Increased circulating concentrations of insulin, estradiol, and progesterone Lammoglia et al. (1997) 11

EFFECTS OF FAT & TYPE OF FATTY ACID Study 1 - Can supplementing beef cows post-partum with fat source improve reproductive performance of the dam and progeny performance? - Will including a fat source high in PUFA (flax seed) positively affect reproductive performance compared to a source high in MUFA (canola seed)? Study 2 - Can feeding differing fat source (flax or canola) to pregnant beef cows (during 2 nd and 3 rd trimester) affect cow and calf performance? 12

STUDY 1 EFFECTS OF TYPE AND FORM OF FATTY ACID SUPPLEMENTED POSTPARTUM ON BEEF COW & CALF PERFORMANCE SUPPLEMENT IN COW-CALF SYSTEMS 13

MATERIALS & METHODS Over 3 yr, 108 (2 nd calf) cows allocated to 1of 3 replicated (n=3) pelleted supplement strategies 1) NO SUPPLEMENT (CON) 2) CANOLA SEED (CAN) based pellet 3) FLAXSEED (FLX) based pellet Amount of pellet offered to provide 300 g/cow/d of fat SUPPLEMENT IN COW-CALF SYSTEMS

MATERIALS & METHODS Supplementation period (42 d) Breeding season (63 d) T1 T2 T3 Forage quality BW, BCS, SCFT Cyclicity Blood metabolites BW, BCS, SCFT Cyclicity Blood metabolites BW BCS SCFT Calf growth Pregnancy diagnosis at 45 d following breeding Calving dates and calf birth BW

Table 1. Ingredient and nutrient composition of high-fat pelleted feeds. CAN FLX Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Ingredient (% as fed) DDGS 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 Oat hulls 41.0 41.0 41.0 41.0 41.0 41.0 Wheat 40.0 40.0 40.0 40.0 40.0 40.0 Canola 15.0 15.0 15.0 - - - Flaxseed - - 15.0 15.0 15.0 Nutrient (% DM) CP 13.5 15.9 16.1 14.9 14.2 13.3 NDF 33.5 34.8 33.9 31.4 35.3 41.3 ADF 16.6 21.9 24.5 16.6 22.1 22.2 Starch 33.3 24.2 28.4 35.3 25.4 24.5 8.5 % Fat 8.4 7.6 10.3 9.1 8.5 8.0 TDN 80.3 74.6 79.2 81.9 77.0 74.2

TABLE 2. FORAGE QUALITY AND QUALITY CRESTED WHEATGRASS/SMOOTH BROMEGRASS PASTURE Con Can Flx P-value ADF 42 43 42 0.90 NDF 65 65.3 65.4 0.86 Protein 12 12 12 0.75 Ca 0.40 0.39 0.39 0.83 P 0.16 0.17 0.16 0.56 Kg/Ha 1975 1895 2060 0.19 Anez et al. 2017 (unpublished)

Cows Supplemented 45 d postpartum % meq/ml % Diet BW start BW end Cycling NEFA Preg Rate CON 555 608 72 560 93 CAN 553 606 81 459 97 FLX 553 608 73 494 97 CON:FAT 0.45 0.87 0.50 0.08 0.97 CAN:FLX 0.82 0.80 0.20 0.50 0.93 Anez et al. 2017. (unpublished)

Table 3. Effect of supplement strategy on cow performance Treatment z Item y CON CAN FLX SEM CON vs. Fat Contrasts CAN vs. FLX Start BW (kg) 555 553 553 9.8 0.54 0.82 End BW (kg) 608 606 608 14.1 0.87 0.80 105 d ADG (kg/d) 0.51 0.51 0.52 0.047 0.79 0.81

CALF PERFORMANCE (KG/D) Dam Supp All Calves Steers Heifers CON 1.9 2.1 2.0 CAN 2.0 2.0 1.9 FLX 2.1 2.1 2.0 CON:FAT 0.95 0.57 0.54 CAN:FLX 0.01 0.03 0.51 Anez et al. 2017 (unpublished)

SUMMARY STUDY 1 NO DIFFERENCE IN COW PERFORMANCE NUMERIC DIFFERENCE IN % CYCLING INCREASED NEFA LEVELS FOR CON COWS NO DIFFERENCE IN % PREGNANT CALF PERFORMANCE? DIETARY FAT MAY BE AN IMPORTANT REPRODUCTIVE FUEL YET EFFECTS OF SUPPLEMENTAL GESTATION FAT MAY BE MASKED WHEN ADEQUATE NUTRIENTS ARE AVAILABLE IN FORAGES CONSUMED POSTPARTUM 21

STUDY 2 EFFECTS OF FAT AND TYPE OF FATTY ACID IN BEEF COW DIET ON COW & CALF PERFORMANCE SUPPLEMENT IN COW-CALF SYSTEMS 22

FETAL PROGRAMMING/EPIGENETIC Effects of maternal nutrition status during gestation on offspring performance have been attributed to fetal programming and/or epigenetic effects (Wu et al., 2006; Gicquel et al., 2008; Du et al., 2010) Fetal programming suggests those changes occurring during fetal development are based on dam nutrient supply (Gicquel et al., 2008) Epigenetic refers to alterations in gene expression due to environmental factors without involving changes in DNA sequence 23

MATERIALS & METHODS Over 2 yr, 150 cows allocated to 1of 3 replicated (n=5) diets (treatments) 1) CONTROL, barley (CON) 2) CANOLA SEED (CAN) based pellet 3) FLAX SEED (FLX) based pellet Amount of pellet offered daily calculated to provide 300 g/cow/d of fat All treatment diets were formulated to be iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous SUPPLEMENT IN COW-CALF SYSTEMS

Table 4. Ingredient and nutrient composition of high-fat pellets Ingredient (% as fed) CAN FLX Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 1 Yr 2 DDGS 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 Oat hulls 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 Wheat 41.0 41.0 41.0 41.0 Canola 15.0 15.0 - - Flaxseed - - 15.0 15.0 Nutrient (% DM) CP 12.0 12.6 12.7 12.0 NDF 36.6 47.1 32.8 48.2 ADF 20.9 28.9 20.1 25.3 Starch 27.2 20.6 30.3 20.3 7.5 % Fat 7.5 8.8 6.2 7.5 TDN 69.7 71.6 76.7 67.4

Table 5. Ingredient composition of diets fed during gestation Ingredient (% DM) CON CAN FLX Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 1 Yr 2 Grass hay 32.6 35.5 27.5 26.9 29.7 27.1 Barley straw 33.2 42.8 28.7 42.9 29.2 38.1 Barley grain 34.0 21.7 12.0 4.9 1.2 4.9 Canola meal 0.2 - - - - - Pellet - - 31.8 25.3 36.5 29.9

DIETS & DATA COLLECTION Cows housed in outdoor pens Body weight, BCS, US rib/rump fat Milk yield and composition Blood metabolites Calf birth BW, ADG, WW, Feedlot performance Adipose and muscle tissue (analyzed for expression on growth, myogenic and adpogenic genes) SUPPLEMENT IN COW-CALF SYSTEMS

Table 6. Effect of treatment on beef cow performance over 2 yr Treatment Item y CON CAN FLX SEM Start CON vs. Fat Contrasts CAN vs. FLX Gestation (d) 99 100 98 2.3 - - BW (kg) 665 661 665 19.0 0.40 0.32 Final ADG (kg/d) 0.60 0.58 0.58 0.102 0.28 0.97 BW (kg) 758 750 753 4.6 0.19 0.55 Calving BW (kg) 705 701 708 5.9 0.90 0.31

Table 7. Effect of fat in diet during gestation on partial milk yield and milk composition of beef cows Treatment Contrasts Item CON CAN FLX SEM At 42 d postcalving CON vs. Fat CAN vs. FLX Yield (kg) 3.0 3.1 3.1 0.19 0.52 0.92 Lactose (%) 4.7 4.7 4.7 0.06 0.28 0.70 Protein (%) 2.9 2.9 2.9 0.08 0.42 0.17 Fat (%) 3.8 3.8 4.0 0.40 0.66 0.70 Total solids (%) 12.5 12.5 12.5 0.27 0.88 0.93

Table 8. Effect of treatments on performance of the STEER calves over 1 yr Treatment z Item CON CAN FLX SEM CON vs. Fat Contrasts CAN vs. FLX Birth weight (kg) 41.5 44.7 45.1 1.02 >0.01 0.70 At 21 d ADG (kg/d) 1.05 1.11 1.07 0.045 0.53 0.51 BW (kg) 63.9 68.2 67.9 1.33 0.02 0.90 At 42 d ADG (kg/d) 1.09 1.11 1.10 0.040 0.70 0.84 BW (kg) 87.2 91.3 92.4 1.93 0.06 0.69 At weaning (180 d) ADG (kg/d) 1.16 1.19 1.10 0.049 0.67 0.06 BW (kg) 286 294 278 9.6 0.98 0.08

Table 9. Effect of treatments on performance of HEIFER calves over 1 yr Treatment z Contrasts Item CON CAN FLX SEM CON vs. Fat CAN vs. FLX Birth weight (kg) 39.1 40.5 41.0 1.60 0.23 0.75 At 21 d ADG (kg/d) 1.04 0.94 1.08 0.069 0.74 0.17 BW (kg) 59.6 62.7 62.8 2.35 0.27 0.97 At 42 d ADG (kg/d) 1.02 1.01 1.06 0.063 0.85 0.50 BW (kg) 81.5 84.5 85.2 2.89 0.34 0.86 At weaning (180 d) ADG (kg/d) 1.13 1.17 1.11 0.074 0.54 0.07 BW (kg) 276 287 275 14.2 0.36 0.09

SUMMARY STUDY 2 NO DIFFERENCE IN COW PERFORMANCE, MILK YIELD OR COMPOSITION STEER CALVES FROM CAN SUPPLEMENTED COWS HAD GREATER WEAN WEIGHTS (8-16 KG) THAN FLX OR CON HEIFER CALVES FROM CAN SUPPLEMENTED COWS HAD GREATER ADG AND WEAN WEIGHTS (12 KG) THAN FLX OR CON WORK CONTINUES ON EXPRESSION OF MYOGENIC AND ADIPOGENIC GENES EFFECT OF FETAL PROGRAMMING 32

STAY CONNECTED @DrBart_Beef @kathywbdc BEEF SYSTEMS RESEARCH APPLIED BEEF & FORAGE RESEARCH

THANKS

Flax PUFA has > omega 3:6 ratio - Decrease fiber dig - High omega 3 supp increase embryo survival and implantation MUFA or SFA INTRODUCTION >6% fat total diet dec fiber dig Pellet was 8% fat Fed approx 3% total diet Minimum level where saw effect could feed higher? FAT SUPPLEMENT IN COW-CALF SYSTEMS 35

REQUIREMENTS FOR PROTEIN AND TDN 800 lb heifer, not pregnant Protein TDN TDN:CP Ratio 7 54 7.7 Pregnant heifer, 1.25 lb/d gain 8 55 6.9 Lactating cow, 15 lb milk/d 11 62 5.6 MOORE AND KUNKLE 2000 36