Summary
This study examined the opportunities for utilising alternative energy dense feedstuffs in the Australian cattle feedlot industry. The study was initiated following the conclusion by the Meat Research Corporation's Feedlot Consistency and Sustainability Key Program, that the costs of energy dense feedstuffs currently used in the Australian feedlot industry are likely to rise in the future, and that this threatens the long-term prosperity of the industry.
An extensive review of potential feedstuffs was made and a short list of crops, products and byproducts was prepared for more detailed assessment. Two criteria were used as the basis for this assessment. These were that the feedstuff must have a metabolisable energy (ME) equal to or greater than 10 megajoules per kilogram, and that the anticipated cost must be comparable with those energy sources currently used by the Australian feedlot industry. In all, 21 products or by-products were selected for more detailed assessment and the results of those assessments are reported. The selected feedstuffs: fats and oils, white cotton seed (WCS), cassava, millets and forage crops, and commercial food wastes, comprised products and by-products of Australian agricultural and industrial origin and several imported crop products.
Amongst the selected alternative energy sources are those capable of contributing to an increased efficiency in the established feedlot industry, and able to underpin an expansion into areas away from the current predominantly grain producing areas. The selected feedstuffs included the fats and oils and WCS which appear to be generally underutilised in the established industry. The rapidly expanding cotton industry in northern Australia will ensure an increasing supply of WCS and this, in conjunction with other potential by-products and emerging purpose-grown crops, could meet the needs of an expanded feedlot industry.
Further research is proposed to clarify aspects of the maximum inclusion rates for WCS, and their impact, if any, on carcase qualities. Cassava also offers considerable promise as a high energy source. It is widely used internationally and protocols have been established for its importation from Asia. Whilst the protocols are yet to be tested, the indicated landed cost suggests that it could compete favourably with current feedstuffs, particularly in northern Australia.
There could also be opportunities for growing cassava commercially in the Australian tropics and sub-tropics. This warrants a more detailed feasibility study. Other potential energy sources identified in this study include the millets and the forage crops leucaena and sesbania. Several fibre crops, kenaf and sunn hemp, also offer potential as purposegrown forage crops. A feature of all the forage crops is their rapid decline in feeding value with age. This necessitates the development of techniques to ensure the forage is harvested regularly at a young age. With all these crops further information is required to establish their potential to meet both harvesting, storage and processing requirements, while meeting the particular nutritional needs of the feedlot industry.
In addition to the above feedstuffs, there are substantial quantities of various commercial food wastes in the major population centres and horticultural areas. Little information is available on their quantities and quality, but they offer localised opportunities and warrant a closer examination. Not surprisingly there appears to be no new product or by-product which would significantly hedge the Australian feedlot industry against future feedstuff cost fluctuations.
However, those identified in this study offer real opportunities to increase the efficiency of the established industry and to buffer the industry against future grain price increases. They could also facilitate expansion of the industry into new areas. The potential of the selected feedstuffs is discussed for three intensive cattle feeding situations namely: the existing established feedlot industry, a future expanded feedlot industry and an intensive live cattle export support feeding industry. Further research is detailed to clarify the issues of uncertainty for selected feedstuffs.
