Is the wheat distillers grains soluble ProtiWanze® a valuable alternative to soybean and canola meals in beef cattle?

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether introducing the condensed distillers soluble (CDS) ProtiWanze® (PW) in beef cattle diets has an impact on feeding costs, health and production of the animals. PW, a by-product derived from a Belgian bio-ethanol plant which utilizes only branless wheat, is an acid (pH=4) liquid feed rich in energy (VEM= 1130) and protein (TP= 282 mg/kg DM).
PW supplementation from 9 to 13% on DM basis was tested in 4 suckler cattle farms for 4 months in 2011 and 2012: In 2011, 2 Belgian Blue (BB) (H1 and H3) and one Blonde d’Aquitaine (H2) herds were evaluated and in 2012, H2 was replaced by a third BB herd (H4). Every month, the animals’ health and production were checked by means of Body Condition Scoring (BCS), Ruminal Fill (RF), Fecal Consistency (FC), Undigested Fraction (UF) and Locomotion Scores (LS). Ruminal fluid was collected with a stomach tube (Ruminator®) on 5 cows for pH, redox potential (Methylene blue test) and protozoa assessment (optical microscopy). Reproduction performances during these 2 years were analyzed. The price of a diet containing the same amount of proteins brought by a mixture of 1/3 soybean and 2/3 canola meal was calculated to verify whether introducing PW reduced feeding costs.