10 0
 The Feeding Value and Digestibility of Dried
 EEss5 o Tops For Steers UIE LIBRARY

 y SEP 1 1972

 C. E. Haines, H, L. Chapman, Jr. and R. W. KIdder

 I.F.A.S. Univ. of Florid,
 Continual efforts to find profitable outlets for the ws -o or nu"ie pr-
 tions of agricultural crops have resulted in the testing of many prospective
 materials for their value as livestock feedstuffs. In recent years, these efforts
 have been intensified by the vegetable industries of Florida.

 One of the major vegetable crops produced in south Florida is celery and
 it is estimated that 500 pounds of dry feed equivalent per acre is left in the
 field at harvest. Although small quantities of celery waste has been fed in the
 fresh condition to cattle for short periods, its nutritive value has not been
 determined for beef cattle. The high moisture content of celery waste suggests
 that the material should probably be dehydrated to facilitate handling and to
 prevent spoilage if considered for use as a concentrate feed.

 Small samples of celery leaves and tops have been subjected to mechanical
 dewatering with satisfactory results (1). The protein content of the dewatered
 material was higher than that of many concentrate feedstuffs now in use. The
 value of dried celery leaves in poultry rations has also been studied (2).

 The study reported herein was undertaken to test the nutritional value of
 dried celery tops in a fattening ration for steers and also to determine diges-
 tibility coefficients. Dehydrated celery tops were secured from the crops har-
 vested in the spring of 1958. The project was sponsored by several celery
 producers of the Everglades area.

 Experimental

 Thirty-two grade Hereford steers of similar conformation and condition were
 selected from the herds of two commercial cattle raisers in the area. These
 steers were allotted to four experimental groups according to origin and weight.
 All groups were placed in concrete paved lots of equal size which contained auto-
 matic water cups and wooden feed troughs. The average initial weight of the 32
 steers was 581 pounds.

 The quantity of dehydrated celery pulp, supplied for experimentation, was
 17,819 pounds. Of this amount, approximately 2,000 pounds were retained for use
 in a digestibility trial and the remainder used in the feeding trial. The test
 material contained 25.29 percent crude protein, 15.30 percent crude fiber, 3.02
 percent fat and 11.62 percent ash. Four test rations were formulated to contain
 either 0, 10, 20 or 30 percent of dehydrated celery tops. Other ingredients of
 the concentrate ration were altered so that each mixture contained 12.75 percent
 crude protein. The composition of the experimental rations is shown in Table 1.


 The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of Dr. A. Z. Palmer and his
 staff at the University Meats Laboratory, Gainesville, Florida for conducting
 the taste and tenderness studies on the meat samples secured from the experimentKal
 animals.


February 1, 1959


W Everglades Station Mimeo Report 59-13