Studies show bread in diet is good for cows

By Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.

For beef producers looking for new ways to economically and efficiently feed their cattle, Cornell animal researchers have shown the effectiveness of an unusual diet: Let them eat bread -- and other commercial bakery leftovers and scraps.

The researchers say that the steers' ruminant stomachs can digest feed that includes stale bakery products more efficiently than high-energy, corn-based diets because the baked goods have already been processed.

"It surprised us that bakery waste was more efficient than corn. We found there was no difference in the meat quality," said Pablo J. Guiroy, [pronounced Ga-ROY] a graduate student from Argentina, who will complete his master's degree in the animal science department at Cornell in October.

Guiroy presented his findings at the American Society of Animal Sciences regional meeting at the University of Massachusetts June 29 and again at the society's annual meeting in Denver in July.

He and his colleagues studied 120 steers at Cornell's Teaching and Research Center in Dryden. The other researchers were Danny G. Fox and Donald H. Beermann, professors of animal science, and Deborah J. Ketchen, manager of beef research at the Cornell Teaching and Research Center.

"Ruminant animals play a valuable role in recycling nutrients from human food processing," Fox said. "Bakery waste is one of those byproducts where ruminants can play a major role in recycling."

Guiroy said the bread-based diet does not affect quality or yield-grades of the beef, and the researchers were aiming for Choice Quality grade beef in 80 percent of the cattle. The beef was tested for tenderness with Warner-Bratzler shear force measurements, which determine how much force is needed to cut meat.

The steers fed on the bakery diet were managed according to Cornell's animal use and care guidelines and were slaughtered at a packer in Pennsylvania.

A panel of tasters reported no difference in the taste of steaks from the animals fed the bread-based diet compared with meat from animals fed on a traditional corn-based diet. According to the researchers, beef producers in New England have been feeding bakery waste to some cattle for years. However, the Cornell research documents for the first time the net energy value of bakery waste and its effects on meat quality.