According to results from a 1999 Texas forage comparison study, new BMR 100 brown midribbed forage sorghum, from AgriBioTech, Inc. (ABT), exhibits higher digestibility and economic potential for beef producers than corn silage, grain sorghum or conventional forage sorghum.
"Based on In Vitro True Digestibility (IVTD) testing, BMR offers beef producers significant advantages in daily gain, beef production per acre and potential economic return, says Dr. Rod Hintz, ABT national forage nutritionist. "In fact, economic models based on research data show its potential value can exceed that of corn silage.
IVTD sampling--a method of measuring true forage digestibility by incorporating live rumen bacteria to break down a forage sample--was used to compare the digestibility of BMR 100, corn silage and two conventional forage sorghums, from Texas feedlot forage samples. It proved BMR l00 had the highest digestibility (78.01%) of the four.
"The high digestibility of BMR l00 is an important benefit for beef producers," Hintz explains. "There is a definite correlation between a high IVTD, score--true digestibility--and increased daily gain in beef cattle.
Assuming a price of $78 per hundredweight for 700-pound calves, BMR 100 results; from the Texas samples represent an average daily gain of 2.25 pounds per day or $2,051 of beef per acre.
The conventional forage sorghums scored 2.01 and 2.00 pounds of daily gain, $1,633 and $1,464 beef per acre, respectively. Corn silage finished at the bottom of the test, with 1.83 pounds daily gain and only $932 of beef production per acre.
The brown midrib trait that sets BMR 100 apart from conventional forage sorghum hybrids is the result of a genetic alteration that causes reduced lignin and the distinctive brown color of leaf midribs.
Lignin is a fibrous part of plant wall structure that is highly indigestible and can interfere with an animal's performance. By reducing the level of lignin in BMR 100, its forage becomes much more digestible and palatable for beef cattle. As cattle eat more and are able to more readily digest nutrients from BMR 100, the conversion of feed to beef becomes much more efficient.
But all hybrids bred with the BMR trait do not perform alike.
The genetic makeup of BMR 100 from ABT allows top-yielding performance. When compared in yield trials, BMR 100 also provided much higher yields than the other forage types: 29.8 tons per acre, compared to 27.2 and 23.5 tons for the conventional forage sorghums and 12.2 tons for corn.
Plus, BMR 100 requires 33% less water to produce than corn and provides superior nutrient quality for beef cattle.
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