Evaluation of Two Different Sweet Bran Products on Beef Cattle Digestion Characteristics and a Review of RAMP as an Alternative Step-up Program

Two Sweet Bran products were evaluated at 13%, 18%, and 23% inclusion of the diet on total tract digestibility and rumen fermentation parameters. Seven ruminally cannulated, heifers were used in a 6 x 7 row-column design with 21-d periods consisting of 16-d adaptation period followed by a 5-d collection. Dietary treatments were designed in a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement with 6 periods. Factors included two Sweet Bran products that differed in particle size (Sweet Bran-SP; GMD = 1.79mm or Sweet Bran-LP; GMD = 2.51 mm) and three dietary inclusion (13%, 18%, or 23% of diet dry matter). The Sweet Bran products replaced steam-flaked corn in finishing diets. Total tract organic matter digestibility increased linearly for Sweet Bran-SP (82.8, 84.7, 85.5% for 13, 18, and 23% Sweet Bran-SP, respectively; P = 0.01) and also increased linearly for neutral detergent fiber digestibility (57.3, 63.7, 68.9% for 13, 18, and 23% Sweet Bran-SP, respectively; P < 0.01).The diet digestible energy concentration (Mcal DE / kg diet DM) increased linearly for Sweet Bran-SP (3.73, 3.85, 3.90 Mcal DE/kg for 13, 18, and 23% Sweet Bran-SP, respectively; P < 0.01). Average rumen pH tended to increase quadratically (P = 0.10) with increasing concentrations of Sweet Bran-SP (pH = 5.53, 5.84, 5.85 for 13, 18, and 23% Sweet Bran-SP, respectively). Reducing the particle size of the bran in Sweet Bran negatively impacted diet digestibility, energy content, and rumen pH at dietary inclusions below 18%. RAMP (Cargill Branded Feeds; Blair, Nebraska), a complete starter ration blending Sweet Bran (Cargill Branded Feeds; Blair, Nebraska), alfalfa, and cotton seed hulls, can be used as an alternative to traditional step-up grain adaptation programs. Results demonstrated that cattle adapted with RAMP had greater ADG, greater feed efficiency, and averaged 7 kg greater hot carcass weight compared to traditional adaptation programs. Microbiome analysis indicated that cattle adapted with RAMP had consistent bacterial diversity opposed to those transitioned using conventional corn-based diets, suggesting RAMP promotes less variability in microbial adaptation to high-concentrate diets. Overall, RAMP indicates efficiency in reducing or eliminate the need for extended adaptation periods, supporting efficient and cost-effective feedlot operations. Advisor: James C. MacDonald