Dataset Information

A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Slow-Release Urea Supplementation on the Performance of Beef Cattle.

ABSTRACT: Slow-release urea (SRU) is a coated non-protein nitrogen (NPN) source for ruminant nutrition. This study applied a meta-analytic technique to quantify the effect of a commercial SRU (Optigen®, Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, KY, USA) on the performance of beef cattle. Data were extracted from 17 experiments and analysed using the random-effects model to estimate the effect size of SRU on dry matter intake (DMI), crude protein intake (CPI), live weight gain (LWG) and feed efficiency (FE) of growing and finishing beef cattle. There was no effect of feeding SRU on the overall DMI and CPI of beef cattle. Dietary inclusion of SRU improved the overall LWG (+92 g/d/head) and FE (+12 g LWG/kg DMI/head) of beef cattle. Notably, SRU supplementation in growing cattle exhibited a better improvement on LWG (130 vs. 60 g/d/head) and FE (18 vs. 8 g LWG/kg DMI/head) compared with finishing cattle. Moreover, SRU showed consistent improvements on the LWG and FE of beef cattle under several study factors. Simulation analysis indicated that positive effects of SRU on LWG and FE improved profitability through reduction in feed cost and reduced the emission intensity of beef production. These results indicate that SRU is a sustainable NPN solution in beef cattle production.

SUBMITTER: Salami SA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7223368 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Slow-Release Urea Supplementation on the Performance of Beef Cattle.

Salami Saheed A SA Moran Colm A CA Warren Helen E HE Taylor-Pickard Jules J

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI 20200410 4

Slow-release urea (SRU) is a coated non-protein nitrogen (NPN) source for ruminant nutrition. This study applied a meta-analytic technique to quantify the effect of a commercial SRU (Optigen<sup>®</sup>, Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, KY, USA) on the performance of beef cattle. Data were extracted from 17 experiments and analysed using the random-effects model to estimate the effect size of SRU on dry matter intake (DMI), crude protein intake (CPI), live weight gain (LWG) and feed efficiency (FE) ...[more]

PMID: 32290182

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Dataset Information

A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Slow-Release Urea Supplementation on the Performance of Beef Cattle.

Publications

A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Slow-Release Urea Supplementation on the Performance of Beef Cattle.

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