SUITABILITY OF ASPEN TREES AS LIVESTOCK FEED Phase II Utilization of Aspen Trees as a Ruminant Feed Component THE OLD WEST REGIONAL COMMISSION May 1977 Montana State Library II Hi 1 003 1' III III 1 0864 48 2 SUITABILITY OF ASPEN TREES AS LIVESTOCK FEED Phase II Utilization of Aspen Trees as a Ruminant Feed Component May 1977 Prepared for the Old West Regional Commission by The South Dakota State Division of Forestry Department of Game, Fish and Parks Pierre, South Dakota 57501 The Old West Regional Commission is a Federal-State partnership designed to solve regional economic problems and stimulate orderly economic growth in the states of Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Established in 1972 under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, it is one of seven identical Commissions throughout the country engaged in formulating and carrying out coordinated action plans for regional economic development. COMMISSION MEMBERS Federal Cochairman Warren Clay Wood State Members Gov. J. James Exon of Nebraska Alternate: W. Don Nelson Gov. Edgar J. Herschler of Wyoming Alternate: David D. Freudenthal Gov. Thomas L. Judge of Montana Alternate: Keith L. Colbo Gov. Richard F. Kneip of South Dakota Alternate: Theodore R. Muenster Gov. Arthur A. Link of North Dakota Alternate: Woody Gagnon 1730 K Street, N.W. Suite 426 Washington, D.C. 20006 202/634-3907 COMMISSION OFFICES 201 Main Street Suite D Rapid City, South Dakota 57701 605/348-6310 228 Fledden-Empire Building Billings, Montana 59101 406/657-6665 FTS 585-6665 FOREWORD Building on an earlier demonstration which clearly proved the suitability of ground aspen as a component in livestock feed, this considers the economic factors of harvesting and utilizing the product for a feed component, and its competitive status in relation to traditional feeds. Like Phase I of the project, this portion of the work was conducted by the Animal Science Department of South Dakota State University at Brookings. Principal investigators were Leslie D. Kamstra, L. B. Embry and Mahendra Singh. Warren C. Wood Federal Cochairman r I TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction __ *"" Study Procedures Harvesting Processing Feeding Conclusions Economic Implications Raw Material Aspects Appendix (Slaughter Data fj Taste Values) Page No. -- 1 -- 3 — 3 • 4 — 7 — 9 — 9 — 11 --- 13 TABLES Ration Composition ^ Chemical Composition of Rations 6 Composition of Aspen Chip Samples 7 Feedlot Performance of Six Aspen Rations ® 10 Comparative Cost Data Black Hills Aspen Resource t 12 r y t [ INTRODUCTION Aspen, (Populus tremuloides) , which is found growing in relative abundance throughout the region, is not presently being utilized for any purpose other than for occasional use as firewood. Due to the fact that industrial markets for aspen are virtually non-existant, the periodic harvesting of the stands necessary for their perpetuation does not occur. Consequently, as the individual trees age and eventually mature, they become virtually useless as a source of food and cover for wildlife, and for use in the manufacture of wood products, because of defects caused by excessive rot. Since extensive harvesting of a timber resource cannot take place without adequate markets, it remained for someone to examine marketing possibilities for the material which could be generated in an aspen harvesting program. Most traditional markets were ruled out because the size and quality of the raw material which would be scheduled for cutting made it generally unsuitable for conversion into useful products by existing manufacturing methods. Consultations with Dr. L.D. Kamstra of the College of Agriculture and Biological Science at South Dakota State University, subsequently revealed that prior research efforts directed at utilization of wood materials for livestock feed indicated that in all likelihood, aspen trees could he converted into a suitable food for livestock. It -as felt that if this could be successfully demonstrated, either a new or existing industry could capitolize on the opportunity which would result in benefits to the livestock industry, the rural economy, and the timber 1 1 and wildlife resources. A study plan „as subsequently formulated and funding approval obtained from the Old West Regional Commission. The following section contains a orief description of the study procedure used. I 2 THE STUDY Objectives : 1. To determine whether or not aspen trees can be economically reconstituted into a form suitable for use as livestock feed at less cost per unit than traditional feeds presently available. 2. To determine the value of aspen in maintenance rations . 3. To establish the value of treating aspen to increase its utilization in high roughage rations . 4. To determine the nutrient components of aspen by analytical and other laboratory procedures. Procedures • A. Harvesting A cutting site, typifying Black Hills aspen stands, was selected on National Forest lands in Township 5 North, Range 5 East, Section 17, and was sampled for the following factors: No. of trees per acre 470 Avg. Diameter at Breast Height 5.53 inches Stand Age 60 years Site Fair Harvesting operations began on Tune 17, 1975, after the trees had broken dormancy and were carried on sporadically until approximately 80,000 lbs of aspen chips had been manufactured and shipped to Egan, South Dakota for further processing. To obtain this quantity of chips required the removal of all aspen trees from an area approximately 1.3 acres in size. Using the factor of 470 trees/acre, the average tree yielded 131 lbs. of green chips. This is consistent with the results of 3 nn C!lrliCr S™pl° Ohtainod fro" Custer State Park in which the average tree whs found to yield 126 lbs. of green chips. No attempt was made to either define or utilize a "best harvesting method" for use on the project since the primary objectives dealt largely with the feeding aspects of the study. As a result, conventional logging methods were used to harvest the trees, chipping was accomplished by use of a substantially smaller chipper than those used on commercial, whole tree chipping operations, and no financial limitations were imposed on the harvesting operations other than those deemed necessary to stay withxn the fiscal requirements of the agreement. However, by utilizing grapple skidders and a whole tree chipper on the order of Morbarks "Chip Harvester", the combined cost of harvesting and chipping could be expected to approximate $21.00 per green ton. B. Processing The green chips were trucked to Rgan, South Dakota and immediately upon arrival were put thru a dryer to reduce the moisture content, in order to retard spoilage and facilitate grinding. Following drying, they were ground to an average size of approximately 0.16 centimeter. The ground material was than mixed with additional components and pelletized to for- mulate the rations listed in Table 1. * N> 4 1 I ; i Table 1 Ration Composition _Li Ingredients i 2 Ration 3 No. 4 5 6 , 4 ■in Alfalfa (Lbs . 93 of Ingredients/100 73 53 33 lbs. of ration) 13 13 * a i Soybean Oil Meal* — 8 16 24 32 32 < i ' t i- Aspen — 12 24 36 48 ** 48 Molasses 5 5 5 5 5 5 i Trace Minerals 1 1 1 1 1 1 i ; i i Dicol 1 1 1 1 1 1 — *** Vitamin A , 1 I i , i i Ratio of 60-40 aspen-soybean oil mix was held constant for all rations. ** Treated by adding 4% Na OH by weight. *** 2,000 I.V. of vitamin A added/kg. of ration - 5 < : After formulation, the various rations were analyzed for their chemical composition. The results are contained in Table 2. L Table 2 Chemical Composition of The Rations Ration No. , i Carotene Mg/ lb Acid Detergent Fiber Crampton 8 Maynard Fiber P F R r n m t Crude Protein Ca P j 1 - Control 2.20 42.97 28.90 12.91 1.62 0.32 2 - 12% Aspen 0.98 37.97 29.36 13.62 1.35 0.39 3 - 24% Aspen v.-' 1.32 38.73 28.62 15.00 1.38 0.42 4 - 36% Aspen l 0.72 35.12 27.91 16.27 1.03 0.34 _ 5 - 48% Aspen 0.62 34.01 27.82 16.27 1.08 0.38 6 - 48% Aspen § Na OH 0.72 34.81 28.54 15.61 0.98 0.35 In addition to analyzing the rations, each truck load of chips was sampled and analyzed for the following factors: 1. Moisture 2. Ash 3. Detergent Lignin 4. Detergent Fiber 5. Crampton P, Maynard Cellulose 6. Crude Protein The resultant data is contained in Table 3. i < 6 I I Table 3 Composition of Aspen Chip Samples j t , ) 1 Load No. and Sample Date Moisture Ash Detergent Lignin Detergent Fiber Cramp ton 8 Maynard Cellulose Crude Protein P E R C E N T • 1 1 - 7/2 41.5 2.19 8.54 58.84 46.62 1.38 w- 2 - 7/22 43.8 2.78 12.56 60.50 46.42 1.58 ; i ,■ i 3 - 7/25 42.7 4.70 11.46 54.52 37.82 1.44 ! , 4 - 8/5 35.8 1.85 13.58 58.20 40.26 1.41 *- 5 - 8/8 38.6 1.77 14.62 59.50 42.89 0.90 1 \ ! | ■ 6 - 8/13 41.3 1.45 11.40 61.52 43.33 0.72 * 1 7 - 8/- — 1.92 11.98 58.23 40.88 0.96 ■ i; i ’ 8 - 8/26 43.3 1.84 11.96 59.49 41.24 0.86 i < u I- u , I* I C. Feeding Trials Sixty Hereford steers weighing approximately 725 pounds each were selected and randomly sorted into 12 lots of five animals each. Feeding commenced on July 15th and continued for a period of 93 days. The animals were cleaned and weighed on the 32nd and 57th days of the trial with the final weigh-in occuring on the 93rd day. Feeding was discontinued for several days in order to obtain the shrunk weight. Data obtained in the feeding trials is contained in Table 4, Feedlot Performance of Six Aspen Rations . 7 Table 4 Feedlot Performance of Six Aspen Rations #1 Control #2 12% Aspen Ration #3 24% Aspen #4 36% Aspen #5 48% Aspen #6 48% Aspei +4% NaOH Number of Animals Number of Days Fed Avg. Initial Filled Wt. Avg. Initial Shrunk Wt. Avg. Final Filled Wt. Avg. Final Shrunk Wt. 10 93 728 lbs. 708 lbs. 873 lbs. 826 lbs. 10 93 728 705 934 893 10 93 723 702 980 937 10 93 726 702 989 951 10 93 725 704 978 930 10 93 726 704 970 931 Avg. Daily Ration Consumption fibs) At 32 Days At 57 Days At 93 Days 16.49 21.38 24.68 19.03 24.46 27.74 23.75 28.56 30.33 24.42 29.40 30.86 23.25 26.14 27.81 23.71 27.42 29.09 Avg. Daily Gain (lbs) At 32 Days At 57 Days At 93 Days (Tilled) At 93 Days (Shrunk) 0.94 1.69 1.55 1.26 1.48 2.90 2.23 2.02 3. 16 3.52 2.77 2.53 3. 56 3.32 2.83 2.68 3.27 3.17 2.72 2.42 3.63 3.16 2.62 2.44 Lbs. of Feed Consumed Per Lb. of Gain At 32 Days At 57 Days At 93 Days (Filled) At 93 Days (Shrunk) 20.31 15.63 15.93 19.50 13.54 10.26 12.49 13.80 7.53 8.08 10.95 12.07 6.88 9.04 10.95 11.66 7.12 8.31 10.25 11.56 6.58 9.59 11.12 12.03 CONCLUSIONS A. Economic Implications Probably the most logical approach to an examination of the economics of feeding experimental rations is one which compares the cost ner pound of gain made by the ration fed livestock with the cost per pound of gain made by the animals utilizing a conventional feed. Table 5, Comparative Cost Data, serves to accomplish this by splitting out the various cost components for viewing and than recombining them into a total cost per ration from which a figure representing cost per pound of gain can be developed for each ration fed. The cost components used include harvesting and chipping, drying, grinding, pelletizing, and bagging. The cost of transporting the aspen chips from the woods to a processing point was not included because it was felt that the extreme variations involved in trucking distances and charges, prohibits develop- ing a truly meaningful average transportation cost figure. With the exception of the harvesting and chipping costs, all other costs used in the analysis are "as experienced" costs and should not be construed to represent the actual costs which would be experienced by a prudent entrepreneur engaged in producing a large volume of feed. Especially might this hold true for the drying and grinding costs which could be expected to be significantly less for a large scale operation. The harvesting and chipping costs used in the analysis was selected after a search of the literature dealing with whole tree harvesting and chipping. USDA Forest Service Research Paper RM-125 titled "Demonstration 9 Test of Inwoods Pulp Chip Production In The Four Comers Region" served as the major reference for this puipose, and the cost figure selected for use was purposely inflated in order to retain a somewhat "conservative approach to the analysis. Table 5 Comparative Cost Data 10 - It would appear that all aspen containing rations were significant- ly superior to the alfalfa control ration in average daily gain, feed re- quirements per pound of gain, and cost per pound of gain. The addition of Sodium Hydroxide to the rations did not increase animal utilization. It seems likely that aspen could serve as a major component of maintenance, high roughage rations if its known nutritional deficiencies such as protein and Vitamin A are corrected. It would also appear that aspen has potential value as a component of growing rations. B. Raw Material Aspects Aspen grows in abundance in most of the forested states west of the Mississippi, although normally the acreage occupied by the species is quite small in relation to the total forested area. It (aspen) is classified in most forest inventories as a "non- commercial" species, ie; a species having little or no potential as raw material for conversion into useful products, and as such it tends to be disregarded by most forest managers. This is especially true in the area making up the "old west region" where the aspen stands are generally small sized and are widely interspersed among extensive stands of the various coniferous species native to the area. Forest inventory data for the Black Hills area of South Dakota, where aspen is typically found growing under the conditions described, can well serve to illustrate the potential of the resource. Although no attempt was made to determine the total quantity of aspen present in the five state area, it is estimated that the volumes set forth in Table 6, Black Hills 11 i L- Aspen Resource, represents less than one seventh of the total available for use as livestock feed. Table 6 Black Hills Aspen Resource 1/ Includes the main stem, branches, and leaves of trees 5 inches m diameter or larger at breast height. 2/ Includes the mainstem portion only of trees 5 inches in diameter or larger at breast height. Based on these and other data, it is estimated that a sustained yield aspen harvesting program in the Black Hills could generate from 15,000 to 20,000 tons of dry chips per year. 12 APPENDIX Slaughter Data (Each figure represents an average of four randomly selected animals) 1 1 #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 48% Aspen Hot Carcass Control 12% Aspen 24% Aspen 36% Aspen 48% Aspen W/Na OH ^Weight 489.0 546.3 561.3 579.0 583.0 548.3 1 Dressing % L»-<» 54.2 56.8 56.5 56.9 56.1 55.7 Fed Grade | ' Standard Standard Plus Good Good Standard Plus Standard Plus W Morrell Grade Good Good Good Good Good Good Marbling Score 2.8 3.0 3.8 3.8 3.3 3.3 Abscessed Livers 1 0 0 0 0 0 Taste Values (10 Member Panel) Tenderness 3.82 3.48 3.23 4.02 3.03 2.80 Flavor 3.43 3.25 3.13 3.43 3.18 3.00 •Juiceness 3.90 3.80 3.53 3.98 3.58 3.10 Confirmation 17.8 19.0 19.3 19.5 19.0 19.3 Maturity 23.0 23.0 23.0 23.0 23.0 23.0 iColor 3.5 3.8 5.3 5.0 3.8 4.8 Firmness 5.0 4.8 5.8 5.5 5.3 5.3 - 13 - i i O.W.R.C ASPEN FEEDING STUDY '} Grant # 10570108 Statement of Expenditures ITEM AMOUNT DATE PAID Contractual Services by SDSU College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences $ 5,000.00 2.650.00 6.120.00 1,530.00 June 1975 July 1975 Nov. 1975 Dec. 1975 Contract skidding expense 515.00 Aug. 1975 Contract labor for cutting 777.00 Sept. 1975 Contract chipping expense 797.00 Jan. 1976 Wood chip drying costs 743.90 Sept . 1975 Wood chip grinding costs 75.70 Sept. 1975 Supplies and Materials Gas and Oil 418.42 431.37 July-Nov. 1975 March 1976 Miscellaneous A. Coons Machine Shop B. Mon-Dak Stihl C. Hill City Standard 16.00 17.25 9.00 Aug. 1975 Aug. 1975 Sept. 1975 Grand Total $19,100.64 p t * £ k A » i