Feeding Bakery Former Foodstuffs and Wheat Distiller’s as Partial Replacement for Corn and Soybean Enhances the Environmental Sustainability and Circularity of Beef Cattle Farming

Silvia Grossi, Valentina Massa, Andrea Giorgino, Luciana Rossi, Matteo Dell’Anno, Luciano Pinotti, Filippo Avidano, Riccardo Compiani and Carlo Angelo Sgoifo Rossi
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Silvia Grossi: Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (DIVAS), Università degli Studi di Milano, 26900 Lodi, Italy
Valentina Massa: Dalma Mangimi, 12038 Savigliano, Italy
Andrea Giorgino: Dalma Mangimi, 12038 Savigliano, Italy
Luciana Rossi: Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (DIVAS), Università degli Studi di Milano, 26900 Lodi, Italy
Matteo Dell’Anno: Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (DIVAS), Università degli Studi di Milano, 26900 Lodi, Italy
Luciano Pinotti: Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (DIVAS), Università degli Studi di Milano, 26900 Lodi, Italy
Filippo Avidano: Societa Agricola Zootecnica Annonese s.r.l., 15122 Alessandria, Italy
Riccardo Compiani: Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (DIVAS), Università degli Studi di Milano, 26900 Lodi, Italy
Carlo Angelo Sgoifo Rossi: Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences (DIVAS), Università degli Studi di Milano, 26900 Lodi, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: The effects of the partial substitution of corn and soybean meals with bakery former foodstuffs (BFF) and wheat wet distiller’s grains (WDGs) on environmental sustainability, production performance, and health status were evaluated in beef cattle. Newly arrived Limousine beef heifers ( n = 408) housed an intensive farm in Campagnatico (Grosseto, Italy) were balanced for initial weight and body conformation and then randomly divided in two groups: (i) Traditional corn–soybean meal diet; (ii) Circular diet with average as-fed 1.5 kg BFF and 1.5 kg WDGs as substitute for 1.6 kg corn and 0.3 kg soybean meal. The environmental impact of the diet was analyzed considering greenhouse gases emissions (GHG, kg CO 2 eq), water (H 2 O, L), and land use (LU, m 2 ) as well as consumption of human-edible feeds (HE, kg). The growth performance, feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass characteristics, apparent total tract digestibility (aTTD), and health status of heifers were evaluated. The Circular diet led to a reduction per kg of cold carcass weight (CCW) of 1.00 kg CO 2 eq of GHG, 72.38 L of H 2 O, 1.20 m 2 of LU, and 0.95 kg of HE ( p < 0.0001). Growth performances, carcass characteristics, and health status were not affected ( p > 0.05). Sugar and pectin aTTD were significantly higher ( p < 0.0001) in the Circular group. Replacing traditional feed ingredients with BFF and WDGs reduced the environmental impact of the diet of fattening Limousine heifers and the food competition between humans and beef cattle in accordance with circular economy principles.

Keywords: beef cattle; environmental sustainability; circular economy; bakery former foodstuffs; wheat wet distiller’s grains; resource efficiency; food competition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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