Impact of Feeding Palm Oil to Finishing Cattle on Performance, Carcass, and Meat Characteristics

Authors: Tate S. Johnson, Graduate Student; Rebecca L. McDermott, Research Technician; Josh R. Benton, Feedlot unit director, ENREEC; Galen E. Erickson, Professor; Jessie C. Morrill, Assistant Professor; Jim C. MacDonald, Professor, Animal Science, Lincoln. 

Summary with Implications

This finishing study evaluated the effect of feeding palm oil products on performance and carcass characteristics, and beef quality measures. Dietary treatments included no supplemental fat or feeding: crude palm oil, crude high-oleic palm oil (HOPO), refined, bleached, and de-odorized palm olein oil (RBD olein), or tallow. Supplemental fat was included at 3.5% of diet dry matter. Cattle fed diets containing supplemental fat had improved feed conversion compared to no supplemental fat. Feeding cattle crude palm oil resulted in improved F:G compared to cattle fed RBD olein, with steers fed tallow and crude HOPO being intermediate and not being different from crude palm or RBD olein. There were no differences in carcass characteristics. Feeding palm oil products could offer cost-effective alternatives to traditional fat supplementation.

Introduction

In 2016, 54% of consulting nutritionists’ clients included supplemental fat in their finishing diets. Since then, the price of fat sources has increased due to increased demand from the biofuel industry. As a result, alternative fat sources are being explored. Palm oil is the most prevalent globally traded vegetable oil and does not qualify for biofuel credits in the U.S.; however, there is limited research evaluating palm oil as an ingredient in beef finishing diets. A previous study compared corn oil to whole palm, RBD olein, and RBD stearin in beef cattle diets. It was found that all diets containing added fats increased final body weight, ADG, and improved feed conversion (2025 Nebraska Beef Report, pp. 44-47). Despite this prior research, diverse palm tree varieties and processing methods lead to a wide range of palm oil end products. Consequently, additional research is needed to further explore different palm oil products. The objectives of this study were to determine the value of palm oil as an ingredient in a finishing diet compared to no fat or tallow on performance, carcass characteristics, and beef quality measures of steers.

Procedure

A finishing study was conducted at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension, and Education Center (ENREEC) using 430 crossbred steers (allocation BW = 891 lb; SD = 64 lb) in a generalized randomized block design. Steers were limit-fed at 2% of BW for 5 days to equalize gut fill, then weighed individually for 2 consecutive days to determine allocation body weight. Cattle were blocked by the first day allocation BW into light, middle, and heavy groups (2 replicates in light and heavy blocks, 4 replicates in middle block) and randomly assigned to a pen within block. Forty total pens were used, with 10-11 steers per pen, balanced within a block. An unstructured treatment design was used with 5 dietary treatments (Table 1), evaluating different sources of supplemental fat included at 3.5% of diet DM. The four sources of supplemental fat included: 1) crude palm oil; 2) crude high oleic palm oil (HOPO); 3) refined, bleached, and de-odorized palm olein oil (RBD olein); and 4) tallow. The crude palm oil used in this experiment was harvested from Elaeis guineensis (Dura) X Elaeis guineensis (Pisifera) palm trees. Once the palm fruit was harvested, it was pressed and purified, resulting in crude palm oil. Crude high oleic palm oil underwent the same processing sequence; however, the palm fruit was harvested from high oleic palm trees. The RBD olein fraction came from the same tree species as the crude palm oil but was further processed into refined, bleached, and de-odorized whole palm oil. The whole palm was subsequently separated into the solid fraction (RBD palm stearin) and liquid fraction (RBD palm olein; Figure 1). RBD palm stearin was not evaluated in the current study. A negative control treatment was included with 0% supplemental fat. Steers were implanted with 200 mg of trenbolone acetate (TBA) and 40 mg of estradiol (Revalor XS; Merck Animal Health) at trial initiation. Cattle were fed for a total of 160 days, and due to a delay in obtaining the palm oils from Colombia, cattle received treatments for the last 107 days before slaughter. Cattle were pen weighed when the oils arrived, and initial body weight was calculated using a 4% shrink (initial BW = 1040 lb; SD = 49 lb). All cattle were fed the negative control diet for the first 53 days, awaiting the palm oils arrival. Average daily gain and feed conversion were calculated using carcass-adjusted final body weight, based on a dressing percentage of 63 percent, and initial BW measured when the oils arrived. Steers in the middle and light blocks were supplemented with 300 mg of ractopamine per steer daily for 28 and 42 days, respectively (Optaflexx; Elanco Animal Health) with a 2-day withdrawal prior to slaughter. The heavy block did not receive ractopamine. When cattle reached optimal fat cover, they were harvested at a commercial abattoir, where individual animal identification, hot carcass weight (HCW), and prevalence of liver abscesses were recorded. Marbling score, ribeye area (REA), and 12th rib fat thickness were recorded following a 48-hour chill, and USDA Yield Grade was calculated. Three loins per pen were collected, with individual animal IDs retained for further meat quality analysis. Five, one-inch-thick steaks were cut from each loin. The fourth steak from each loin was used to measure tenderness using the slice shear force and Warner-Bratzler shear force methods. Performance and carcass data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS (version 9.4, Institute SAS Inc., Cary, NC), with pen as the experimental unit and block as a fixed effect. The model included treatment and block and treatment differences were separated using a Pdiff statement when significant variation was observed for treatment. Significance was considered at α ≤ 0.05, and a tendency was considered at 0.05 < α ≤ 0.10. 

Results

Performance data are shown in Table 2. Dry matter intake of cattle was not different among the treatments (P = 0.51). Similarly, there was no difference in ADG or carcass-adjusted final body weight among any of the treatments (P ≥ 0.39). Due to numerical changes in both intake and gain, differences in F:G due to dietary treatment were observed (P = 0.01). Cattle fed diets containing supplemental fat, regardless of fat type, had a lower F:G than those fed no supplemental fat (P = 0.01). Feeding cattle crude palm resulted in improved F:G compared to cattle fed RBD olein (P = 0.06), with steers fed tallow and crude HOPO being intermediate and not different from either crude palm or RBD olein (P > 0.15). There were no differences in HCW, fat depth, marbling score or REA due to treatment (P ≥ 0.30). Crude palm oil had the greatest percent improvement in feed conversion over the control diet (7.0%) while RBD olein had the lowest percent improvement (3.8%), with crude HOPO and tallow being intermediate at 4.4 and 5.7%, respectively. While steaks from all treatments were considered “very tender”, there was a tendency for tallow to decrease steak tenderness for slice shear force (P = 0.15) and Warner-Bratzler (P = 0.10).

Conclusions

Feeding palm oil products as a source of supplemental fat in finishing diets is comparable to feeding tallow, as all diets containing supplemental fat improved feed conversion. Feeding crude palm oil had the greatest impact on F:G (P < 0.01); with a 7.0% improvement in feed efficiency over control, while RBD olein had the lowest percent improvement (3.8%) with crude HOPO and tallow intermediate. Feeding fat did not impact any carcass traits, although there was a tendency for tallow to decrease tenderness (P ≤ 0.15). While palm oil sources differ slightly in their dietary energy content, producers can select the most economical option based on these conversion responses with 3.5% added fat. 

Acknowledgment

Funding provided by Fedepalma, the National Federation of Oil Palm of Colombia. Products used on cattle were provided by Elanco Animal Health and Merck Animal Health.

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