Cattle Feed Production Process
In the booming cattle industry, cattle feed production is undoubtedly one of the key links to the economic benefits of cattle farming and cattle health has a profound impact. High-quality cattle feed can not only meet the nutritional needs of cattle growth, development and production, but also effectively reduce the cost of farming, enhance the benefits of farming.
Next, we will analyze the production process of cattle feed to provide comprehensive and professional knowledge for cattle farmers and related parties.
Raw Materials used to manufacture Cattle Feed
Corn
Corn, as an important part of cattle feed, is rich in protein and energy, which can significantly enhance the nutritional value of feed. It is an essential ingredient in cattle feed formulation as it provides the necessary energy support for daily activities and growth and development.
Barley
Barley is rich in dietary fiber, which helps maintain a healthy digestive system in cattle. Meanwhile, its high mineral content and moderate protein level promotes the health of cattle, making it a high quality cereal ingredient to ensure the good condition of cattle.
Soybean
Soybeans are known for their high protein content and abundance of essential amino acids. In cattle feed, soybeans are a key ingredient in supporting muscle development, enhancing immune function and promoting overall growth.
Wheat
Wheat is a nutritious grain with excellent digestibility and high energy content. It provides cattle with essential carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals and is an important source of nutrients for optimal growth and health.
Millet
Millet is packed with carbohydrates, proteins and minerals to provide cattle with a balanced diet that helps maintain their overall health. This nutritious and versatile feed has a positive effect on improving cattle health.
Rice Bran
Rice bran, a member of cattle feed, is a high quality source of dietary fat, vitamins and minerals. It not only enhances the palatability of the feed but also provides essential nutrients for overall health and performance of the cattle.
Key Steps in Cattle Feed Processing
Raw Material Receiving and Cleaning
A rigorous ingredient receiving and cleaning process is critical during the initial stages of animal feed processing. Feed mills need to check each batch of ingredients for appearance, odor and purity to ensure that they meet standards. Subsequently, the purity and quality of animal feed pellets are guaranteed by removing foreign matter, impurities and substandard ingredients through washing.
Raw Material Crushing
After acceptance and cleaning, the raw material enters the pulverizing equipment for processing to obtain the appropriate particle size and fineness. This step is crucial for the subsequent mixing process, which can make all kinds of raw materials mix evenly and improve the overall quality of feed.
Mixing
Under precise recipe control, the various ingredients are put into the feed mixer for scientific mixing. This process ensures that the nutrients are well mixed and evenly distributed, laying the foundation for the production of high quality feed.
Pelleting
After mixing, the raw materials are molded through the feed pelletizer to transform the powdery raw materials into granules. This is the core step of the entire feed production process, whereby the size, shape and density of the pellets are controlled through the use of appropriate pelleting equipment and molds to ensure that the final product meets quality standards.
Cooling and Drying
After pelleting, the product enters a cooling and drying system to remove residual moisture and stabilize product quality. This process, with the aid of specialized cooling and drying equipment, not only enables the product to meet quality standards, but also extends its shelf life.
Granule Pulverization
After cooling and drying, the product may require further processing depending on the feeding needs of the particular animal. For example, some young chicks and cubs require crushed feeds for ease of consumption and digestion. In addition, some livestock and small mammals often require crushed feed pellets.
Packaging And Storage
Finally, the product is packaged using feed packaging machines and stored in a suitable environment. The production line uses packaging materials that meet hygiene standards and strictly controls the packaging process to prevent contamination or damage to the product during transportation and storage. Suitable packaging and storage conditions help maintain the freshness and quality of the product and extend its shelf life.
How To Make Cattle Feed Formula
Beef Cattle Concentrated Feed Formulation
The formulation of concentrated feeds for beef cattle generally requires precision control, with mineral feeds including bone meal, salt, baking soda, trace elements and vitamin additives, usually comprising 3% – 5% of the total concentrated feed. Breeding heifers receive about 2% of the concentrate, while frame cows receive 0.5% – 1%. In winter, spring and fall, the amount of salt added to the feed is 0.5% – 0.8% of the concentrated feed, and in summer it increases to 1% – 1.2%. When lees are used as the main roughage, baking soda is added at 1% of the concentrate. When other roughages are used in summer, the amount of concentrate can be increased by 0.3% – 0.5%. In addition, micronutrient and vitamin additives cannot be produced on their own, but must be added in strict accordance with the requirements.
When preparing concentrated feeds for beef cattle, special attention should be paid to the separate addition of trace elements to ensure a homogeneous mix. All kinds of trace elements and vitamins should be pre-mixed separately before they can be used to prepare premix for beef cattle.
Cattle Premix Formula
Cattle premix is the core ingredient in the preparation of cattle feed, which plays a key role in preventing diseases, promoting rapid fattening of cattle and improving feed return. In the rapid growth stage of cattle, the demand for various nutrients is higher than normal. When preparing beef cattle concentrates based on corn and soybean meal, it is reasonable to add a variety of trace elements, vitamins and amino acids, which helps to promote the digestion of feed for beef cattle and promote protein synthesis, thus realizing rapid fattening.
Corn and soybean meal-based beef cattle concentrates are mainly supplemented with trace elements such as copper, iron, zinc, manganese and cobalt. To prepare one ton of beef cattle concentrate, 40 grams of copper sulfate pentahydrate, 160 grams of ferrous sulfate monohydrate, 90 grams of zinc sulfate monohydrate, 100 grams of manganese sulfate monohydrate, 0.6 grams of cobalt chloride, and 0.7 grams of calcium iodate should be added in order to satisfy the demand of various trace elements for the rapid fattening of beef cattle. The B vitamins synthesized by beef cattle can generally meet their needs, so the vitamins to be added to cattle feed are mainly fat-soluble vitamins. Calcium and phosphorus supplementation in cattle feed is mainly added in the form of calcium phosphate, and 10 kg of calcium phosphate should be added to prepare one ton of concentrated feed for beef cattle. Baking soda and magnesium oxide are good buffering agents, which can maintain the balance of pH value in the rumen of cattle, improve the utilization rate of feed, and effectively prevent poisoning, and the additive ratio in cattle feed is 1% and 0.5% respectively.
Different Weight Fattening Cattle Fattening Feed Formula
- 300kg fattening cattle fattening feed formulation
Concentrate formula: corn 60% – 67%, soybean meal and cotton meal 20% – 28%, bran 5% – 17%, baking soda 1%, high quality beef cattle premix 5%, high quality beef cattle fattening additive 0.02%, stomachic additive 0.2%.
Roughage formula: daily feed 14kg corn stover silage, 5kg wine lees, 5kg tofu dregs or 10kg wine lees, 14kg wheat straw or 10kg tofu dregs, 14kg corn stover silage.
- 400kg fattening cattle fattening feed formulation
Concentrate formula: corn 60% – 67%, soybean meal and cotton meal 20% – 30%, bran 5% – 17%, baking soda 1%, high quality beef cattle premix 5%, high quality beef cattle fattening additive 0.02%, stomachic additive 0.2%.
Roughage formula: daily feed 17kg corn stover silage, 10kg wine lees, 5kg tofu dregs or 18kg tofu dregs, 14kg wheat straw or 12kg tofu dregs, 20kg corn stover silage.
- 500kg fattening cattle fattening feed formulation
Concentrate formula: corn 60% – 65%, soybean meal and cotton meal 27% – 35%, baking soda 1%, high quality beef cattle premix 5%, high quality beef cattle fattening additive 0.02%, stomachic additive 0.2%.
Roughage formula: daily feed 20 kg of corn stover silage, 15 kg of wine dregs, 5 kg of tofu dregs or 20 kg of wine dregs, 20 kg of wheat straw or 12 kg of tofu dregs, 30 kg of corn stover silage.
Farmers can adjust the feed formula according to their actual situation and determine the feeding amount according to the growth condition of beef cattle.
Benefits of Cattle Feed Pellets
Ensure Nutritional Consistency
The mixing process is essential to ensure that all the components of the feed, such as vitamins, minerals, proteins and carbohydrates, are evenly distributed. This uniformity ensures that each feed pellet provides the same nutritional value to the livestock, which is essential for maintaining consistent growth and health in all animals.
Improved Feed Efficiency
Proper mixing improves feed efficiency by ensuring that nutrients are evenly distributed and easily absorbed by the animals. This process helps to maximize feed digestibility, which in turn improves feed-to-weight conversion rates and promotes healthy growth.
Preventing Material Separation
During transportation and handling of feed ingredients, material separation can occur. Effective mixing prevents this from happening, avoiding the separation of nutrient-rich pellets from bulkier ingredients and ensuring consistent feed quality.
Cost-Effectiveness
By ensuring adequate mixing, manufacturers can optimize the cost-effectiveness of the feed production process by avoiding the overuse of expensive ingredients. This not only saves money, but also maintains the high quality of the feed produced and reduces farming costs.
Conclusion
The cattle feed production process covers a number of key stages, from raw material selection to packaging and storage of the final product. Each step has an important impact on the quality and nutritional value of the feed. Scientific and rational cattle feed production can not only provide sufficient nutrition for cattle and guarantee their healthy growth, but also improve the economic benefits and sustainable development of cattle breeding. Cattlemen should deeply understand and strictly follow the production process of cattle feed, continuously optimize the feed formula and production process, and contribute to the development of cattle industry.
