Introduction
This is part 3 of my series on amino acid nutrition for young calves. I’ve summarized the essential amino acid (EAA) concentrations of feed ingredients commonly used in calf starters. These EAA form the basis for the ruminally undegraded protein (RUP) fraction that reaches the intestine after rumen function becomes mature. Early in life when there is a limited amount of ruminal fermentation, proteins in starter ingredients will not be extensively fermented, so the EAA composition of these ingredients makes up a greater proportion of the EAA reaching the abomasum compared to EAA from microbial protein.
EAA Variation within Ingredients
Tables 1-6 contain EAA profile from six ingredients commonly used in calf starters and growers. Within each ingredient, the variation among EAA is generally small as indicated by the standard deviation (SD) from the average (Avg). In most cases, the greatest variation occurs among different authors – for example, the Histidine concentration in soybean meal is consistently 2.6% to 2.8% of total CP, except for means reported by Kudelka et al. (2021), who reported an average of 3.5% of CP in their samples. This is most likely due to differences in laboratory methods used in preparation and analysis of samples. Measuring amino acid composition in feed samples is a complex process and differences in methodology may affect the results reported by researchers.
EAA Variation among Ingredients
Figure 1 shows the variation among feed ingredients. Here we see greater differences. For example the concentration of lysine is sunflower meal and distillers grains are only about 50% of the concentration in soybean meal or canola meals. Thus, a 1:1 replacement of the protein from soy to sunflower will result in a marked reduction in the amount of lysine coming from the RUP fraction. Wheat midds are a common feed ingredient used in calf starers and the valine concentration in midds is very low; there are few studies that have evaluated the effects of low valine on calf performance, so the influence of high midds starter formulations is unclear.
Summary
The EAA composition of calf starter ingredients, which relatively consistent within feed ingredient, can vary markedly among ingredients used in calf starters and growers. Thus, changes in starter formulations will result in significant changes in EAA supply from the RUP fraction. We’ll use these EAA concentrations in calculations of EAA supply to the intestine of calves in future Calf Notes.
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