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Forage-free diet in finishing cattle: Effects on performance, ruminal fermentation, and enteric methane mitigation
Vagner Ovani1, Leandro Sâmia Lopes2, Lumena Souza Takahashi1
1Animal Nutrition Laboratory, Centre for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, CEP 13400-970, Brazil.
Veterinary and Animal Science
|March 11, 2026
Summary
Forage-free diets with plant additives significantly boosted cattle weight gain in finishing trials. This approach improved animal performance and altered rumen fermentation, offering a sustainable alternative to high-grain diets.
Area of Science:
- Animal Science
- Ruminant Nutrition
- Sustainable Agriculture
Background:
- Pasture-based ruminant production faces nutritional limitations during finishing, delaying slaughter and increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
- High-grain diets enhance weight gain but risk ruminal acidosis, with ionophore use restricted in some regions.
- Sustainable alternatives like plant-derived compounds are sought to improve ruminant production efficiency and health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effects of low-grain, high-grain, and forage-free diets supplemented with a plant-derived additive (LM+) on cattle performance and ruminal fermentation.
- To assess animal performance, ruminal pH, short-chain fatty acids, lactate, and microbial populations under finishing conditions.
- To investigate the mechanistic effects on organic matter degradability and fermentation partitioning using an in vitro gas production assay.
Main Methods:
- Forty-five Girolando cattle were fed one of three diets (low-grain, high-grain, forage-free) with LM+ supplementation for 147 days.
- Animal performance, in vivo ruminal parameters (pH, SCFA, lactate), and microbial groups (qPCR) were analyzed.
- In vitro gas production assays were performed using ruminal fluid from adapted animals.
Main Results:
- The forage-free diet yielded the highest average daily gain (1.43 kg/day), significantly outperforming low-grain (0.49 kg/day) and high-grain (1.26 kg/day) diets.
- Increasing grain inclusion decreased ruminal pH and increased short-chain fatty acid and lactate concentrations.
- Fibrolytic bacteria and methanogenic archaea populations decreased with higher grain inclusion.
Conclusions:
- Forage-free diets supplemented with plant-derived additives (LM+) enhance cattle performance during the finishing phase.
- These diets significantly alter ruminal fermentation patterns, including reduced pH and shifts in microbial populations.
- Plant-derived additives present a viable, sustainable strategy for improving ruminant production efficiency.
