Sugarcane is one of the main cash crops in Guangxi. What are the benefits of feeding cows with sugarcane leaves?

Sugarcane is an important cash crop in warm and hot areas such as Yunnan, Guangdong and Guangxi, covering an area of nearly 300,000 hectares. In recent years, the sugar industry in Yunnan Province has been impacted by the continuous decline in world sugar prices, and the sugarcane planting industry has been affected. So, how do sugarcane leaves raise cattle? Let's take a look at the method of raising cattle with sugarcane leaves.

Straw burning is forbidden to enter the critical period in winter and spring. In the past, this may be a headache for sugarcane growers in other parts of China, such as Hainan and Guangdong. Because after harvesting and squeezing, a lot of sugarcane leaves and straws are left, which can't be burned and won't be used for a while. But now, in many towns and villages in Chongzuo, Guangxi, this is no longer a problem for ordinary people. In recent years, the sustainable comprehensive utilization mode of straw has been put forward in this area according to local conditions and the right direction. Sugarcane pointed leaves and straws are made into silage by mechanical processing, packaging and fermentation, which has become a favorite "ration" for cattle and sheep. This practice of "turning waste into treasure" not only improves the utilization value of sugarcane straw, but also extends the industrial chain of sugarcane.

Sugarcane grass has poor quality, low digestibility, poor palatability and reproducibility, and low yield, so it is not suitable for cooperative forage utilization. Sugarcane grows for more than 150 days and has good palatability. When used as pasture, it is suitable for use after maturity. The yield and quality of sugarcane in late maturity are similar to those of existing tropical forage species in Yunnan, and they are highly complementary to conventional forage species in utilization season. It can give consideration to the benefits of raising cattle and planting sugarcane in dry season, and has a certain application prospect in warm and hot areas of Yunnan Province. The whole sugarcane is extremely unbalanced in nutrients, especially rich in carbohydrates and seriously lacking in crude protein, calcium and phosphorus. It is a typical energy roughage, and mineral elements such as protein, calcium and phosphorus should be supplemented when feeding.

The tail leaves of fresh sugarcane have high protein content (crude protein content 3.4%), high sugar content and good palatability, so it is a good feed for fattening cattle. The specific feeding method is as follows: cut the sugarcane tail leaves into small pieces of about 3 cm (which can not only improve the feed intake of cattle, but also reduce the waste caused by picky eaters), then take 0.5% dose of urea (according to the weight of fresh sugarcane tail leaves), dissolve it in water, and mix it with the cut fresh sugarcane tail leaves to feed cattle. Each cow is fed with fresh sugarcane tail leaves 12- 14 kg every day.

Eating this feed can increase the nitrogen source of protein synthesized by rumen bacteria in cattle and improve the nutritional value of the feed. In order to make cows like to eat fresh sugarcane tail leaves with urea, the amount of urea should be increased from less to more (no more than 0.5% at most), so that cows can adapt slowly.