Cattle Consuming Cotton

Cattle producers may not be considering the use of cotton gin trash as a part of their feeding regime, but that could change due to the results of a recent research trial at Oklahoma State University.

Andrea Warner, animal science graduate student, conducted a research trial alongside animal science faculty members Andrew Foote, Blake Wilson, and Paul Beck investigating the use of cotton byproducts in feedlot diets.

Warner is originally from Penn Valley, California. She started conducting research at Chico State University while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in animal science.

“As an undergraduate, I started working at the Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center,” Warner said. “I started doing beef cattle research there and decided that’s what I wanted to keep doing.”

When choosing where she wanted to pursue her master’s degree, it was her interest in beef production that led her to Oklahoma State University, Warner said. She plans to pursue a career in the beef cattle industry because of her love for working with producers and hopes to continue to advance the industry, she added.

Warner received the opportunity to organize and conduct a research project when a research station in Arkansas had beef cattle that needed to be finished, said Beck.

“She worked with us on putting together the finishing diets for these cattle,” Beck said. “We did a production trial looking at the effects of the cotton byproducts and cotton gin trash on performance and carcass characteristics.”

There is an abundance of cotton byproducts available to producers due to the increase in cotton acreage in the southwestern United States, Warner said.

“The most widely used cotton byproduct is whole cottonseed, which is a unique feedstuff due to its high protein, fat, and fiber content,” Warner said. “A less commonly used byproduct is cotton gin trash, which contains the sticks, burrs, leaves, stems, and dirt remaining after the ginning process. Although gin trash is low in protein and fat, it is a source of physically effective fiber, which is used in feedlot diets to stimulate mastication and maintain rumen pH.”

Another benefit of the cotton gin trash is its low cost, Warner said. This byproduct has the potential to be used in feedlots in the southwestern United States to decrease feed cost while maintaining performance, she added.

“We’ve talked to feedlot managers and feedlot nutritionists about this project and there is a lot of interest in this in the industry, because of this whole cottonseed being available and how we can use that most effectively in these diets,” Beck said.

The study was conducted at the OSU Willard Sparks Beef Cattle Research Center, a state-of-the-art beef research and educational facility. Sixty-four crossbred beef steers were fed for either 140 or 168 days depending on weight block, Warner said.

“Cattle were blocked by body weight upon arrival and randomly assigned to one of two treatment diets,” Warner said. “The control diet consisted of dry rolled corn, wet corn gluten feed, prairie hay, and a molasses based liquid supplement. The cotton byproduct diet consisted of dry rolled corn, whole cottonseed, and cotton gin trash.”

At the conclusion of this study, the cattle eating the diet with gin trash had heavier body weights, greater average daily gain, and higher dry matter intake than the control steers, Warner said.

“The cotton fed steers had heavier hot carcass weights, greater fat thickness, more kidney, pelvic and heart fat, greater dressing percentage, and increased yield grade than control steers,” Warner said. “No differences were observed for quality grade, rib eye area, or marbling score between treatments.”

The cattle fed the cotton diet usually had a lower fecal consistency score, Warner said.

“A higher fecal score is associated with a further extent of digestion; therefore, these results may suggest that the cotton diet was less digestible than the control diet,” Warner said. “There were no differences in fecal pH observed between treatments throughout the experiment.”

Blood samples were taken from the steers on eight different days during the experiment to determine urea nitrogen, glucose, and lactate levels, Warner said. The blood samples showed performance differences were not due to differences in glucose or protein metabolism, she added.

“In conclusion, this experiment determined that cotton byproducts can be effectively used as the protein, fat, and fiber sources in a finishing diet without compromising performance or carcass quality,” Warner said.

The results of this study have been presented at field days, released in press articles, and presented at scientific meetings, Beck said.

“We need to have more of these kinds of projects where we’re working across teaching, research, and Extension to bring the stakeholders and taxpayers of Oklahoma the full benefit of what we are capable of doing in the animal and food sciences department,” Beck said.

This project showcases the university's land-grant mission of teaching, research, and Extension, Beck said. The results will have an impact in the industry and help producers and their livelihoods, he added.

STORY BY SADIE RAASCH