Application and study of total mixed ration (TMR) for ruminants

The total mixed diet is a relatively balanced nutrient diet obtained by fully mixing the roughage, concentrate and various additives of appropriate length cut (crushed) according to the nutritional needs of ruminants (cattle, sheep, etc.) at different physiological stages in a certain proportion. In the 1990s, TMR breeding technology system was fully applied in the United States, Europe, Israel and other countries. The penetration rate of TMR technology abroad is 100% in Italy, 100% in Israel and 65% in South Korea. According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture of Israel, the average milk yield increased by 30% when TMR technology was applied to 10000 cows nationwide.

Compared with the traditional separate feeding method of concentrate and roughage, TMR diet feeding technology can meet the needs of large-scale and intensive cattle and sheep breeding industry. This technology can better control the composition and nutrition level of the diet, ensure the balance and safety of its nutrition, improve the intake of dry matter and feed conversion efficiency of cattle and sheep, ensure the ratio of fine to coarse, maintain the relative stability of the rumen internal environment, effectively prevent the disorder of the digestive system, and fully and effectively use the feed resources with poor palatability when fed alone, such as rich crop straw, to reduce the feeding cost, Alleviate the contradiction between human beings and animals. This technology is also convenient to apply the theory and technology of overall regulation of the system to optimize the feed formula, give full play to the overall effect and combination effect of the feed, significantly improve the level of cattle and sheep production and the utilization efficiency of straw, and shorten the gap between China and the developed countries in the ruminant breeding industry in the world.

1 Current situation of ruminant livestock breeding in China

The feeding methods of ruminants include grazing, semi grazing and house feeding. With the implementation of the national comprehensive "returning grazing to grassland" project, the traditional grazing mode has gradually been replaced by the intensive feeding mode of house feeding and semi house feeding. The traditional feeding mode uses separate feeding of fine and coarse. Under this mode, the experience and technology of herdsmen's house feeding and semi house feeding are insufficient, which makes the forage nutrition not fully used and waste seriously, leading to unbalanced nutrient intake of livestock The income of herdsmen grew slowly.

With the improvement of people's living standards, the cattle and sheep fattening industry is booming. It is widely distributed in all regions and has begun to take shape. Some regions have already had industrialization models, and the breeding technology and management level have been at the forefront of the industry. However, in many regions, the production level of some farmers has stagnated.

The feeding system of separate feeding of concentrate and roughage is widespread. Most of them are a simple feed combination of "straw+grain". The roughage is eaten freely, and the concentrate is fed in a limited amount. The composition of the diet is unstable and the nutritional balance is poor. The pH value of the rumen changes greatly, which destroys the dynamic balance of digestion and metabolism in the rumen (production of volatile fatty acids, bacterial protein synthesis, and stable microbial flora), which is not conducive to the digestion of crude fiber, leading to low feed utilization, The waste of coarse fodder is serious and the production level is low, which does not meet the needs of intensive large-scale production and industrial development of modern animal husbandry. Due to the overall lack of nutrition and feed technology, the breeding of ruminants in China is still at a low level, with slow growth, long feeding cycle, high production costs, low commercialization and poor product quality. With the continuous deepening and development of ruminant nutrition research, and the rapid improvement of modernization, intensification and scale of animal husbandry, total mixed ration (TMR) feeding technology has been widely used in animal husbandry.

2. Application status of total mixed ration (TMR)

TMR can improve the palatability of feed, increase the flow rate of chyme in the digestive tract, improve the feed intake rate of livestock, and has low cost, high nutrition, convenient feeding and good economic benefits. The feed with poor palatability, such as straw, urea and minerals, can be mixed into the total mixed diet to increase the feed intake of livestock. The application effect of TMR abroad shows that it can effectively prevent the low intake of feed with poor quality or poor palatability. At present, the United States, Israel, Canada and Japan have conducted systematic and in-depth research on TMR technology, including rumen fermentation, gastrointestinal microorganisms and production performance, milk production performance, etc. The research results confirm that the feeding effect of TMR technology is good.

The research on TMR in China started late, mainly focusing on production performance, fattening performance and slaughter performance. TMR feeding mode and traditional feeding mode were used to compare the first generation crossbred cattle of Simmental and Xinjiang brown cattle. It was found that the daily weight gain, carcass weight and digestive system incidence rate of Simmental crossbred cattle under TMR mode were significantly better than those under traditional feeding mode. By comparing the small and medium-sized pastures using TMR and traditional feeding methods, it is found that after optimization of each link, compared with traditional feeding, the pastures using TMR feeding technology can save 165 yuan per cow per year, and the milk yield and milk composition of cows fed with TMR are higher than those fed with traditional feeding methods. These studies show that the TMR feeding mode can make up for the defects of the traditional feeding mode in China. Through the efficient use of low-quality feed materials such as corn straw, it can achieve the effects of adjusting the nutritional balance of livestock, reducing feeding waste, saving costs, and improving economic benefits, thereby promoting the development and stability of pastoral areas in China, and alleviating the contradiction caused by the problem of sharing food between people and livestock.

In recent years, with the development of animal husbandry in China, TMR has been widely promoted in all provinces and cities and achieved good results. However, because the research on TMR is not systematic enough, and the forage resources and quality in different regions are also different, the feeding of TMR in some regions has not achieved ideal results, and the common TMR is prone to corruption in the use process, leading to a rapid decline in its nutritional value, reducing animal productivity. Therefore, we must make use of local forage resources according to local conditions, expand the category of TMR, and strengthen its related research.

3 Key points of production technology of full mixed ration

The preparation of total mixed diet is based on the nutrient concentration, according to the nutritional needs of different types of livestock, and combining with the dry matter intake to formulate a reasonable feed formula. All raw material components must be accurately measured and fully mixed to prevent separation of refined and coarse feed components during mixing, transportation or feeding.

3.1 Cutting length of roughage.

15%~20% of the silage shall have a length of more than 4cm, and a certain amount of green hay with a length of about 5cm shall be added.

3.2 Suitable water content.

The water content of the whole mixed diet should be 35%~45%.

3.3 Feeding sequence and mixing time.

Generally, the feeding order of the full mixed ration mixer truck is coarse before fine, and the mixing is in the order of "hay silage concentrate". During the mixing process, add water while adding materials, and then stir for 4 to 6 minutes after all materials are added. If the horizontal mixer truck is used, the feeding method of "first fine then coarse" can be adopted when there is no dead angle.

4. Precautions for utilization of full mixed ration

4.1 Reasonably classify.

Grouping feeding is of great significance to the preparation of total mixed diet. According to the growth stage, production performance and body condition of cattle and sheep, the nutrition requirements of cattle and sheep of similar groups are the same, and the nutrition level and nutrition balance of the total mixed diet prepared according to them are the closest to the nutrition requirements of livestock.

4.2 Nutritional composition analysis of total mixed ration and its raw materials.

Determine the content of various nutrients in TMR and its raw materials in time, adjust the formula of TMR diet according to the measured results, control the nutrient concentration of TMR diet and the intake of feed dry matter by cattle and sheep. The ideal TMR diet contains 35%~45% water. If it is higher than 50%, it may affect the total amount of dry matter intake of cattle and sheep.

4.3 It shall be prepared and fed on the spot to ensure that the full mixed ration is fresh and safe.

Mix before feeding. The TMR ration prepared should be fed on the same day in summer and autumn, and in winter and spring within two days.

4.4 There should be a certain transition period for the transformation of breeding system.

When changing from grazing feeding or conventional fine coarse separate feeding to free feeding TMR, a transitional diet should be selected to avoid digestive diseases and acidosis caused by excessive feeding. TMR formula shall not be changed at will. If it is necessary to change, there shall be a transition period of about 15 days, and the peak lactation period shall be avoided as far as possible.

4.5 The feed tank shall not be cut off for a long time.

The feed in the feed tank shall not be cut off for a long time. If the feed tank is vacant for more than 40 hours due to some reason, the feed used for the first time shall contain more roughage when adding the tank again.

4.6 Ensure the nutritional balance of TMR diet.

In the preparation of TMR, the quality of selected forage and other raw materials, the metering accuracy in the batching, and the mixing uniformity of the mixer shall be guaranteed to ensure the nutritional balance of the total mixed diet.