Recipient Organization
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY
P.O. Box 519, MS 2001
PRAIRIE VIEW,TX 77446
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Summary:Hemp (Cannabis sativa L) is a multipurpose herbaceous crop that has been cultivated for centuries. Worldwide, hemp is used in cannabinoid and oil production. In the U.S. The hemp industry. is a new frontier. Congress passed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) and authorized the production of hemp and removed hemp and hemp seeds from the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) schedule of Controlled Substances. In addition to its primary cannabinoid and oil products, the hemp industry produces a high volume of extraction biomass as residue. Annually, the industry generates about 15 million tons of waste directly from the hemp farm biomass (leaves, flowers, stalks) and from subsequent oil and CBD extractions. The industry has not yet placed a clear direction on how to dispose of the biomass and there are very few initiatives by the bioenergy industry to investigate if hemp biomass can be used as feedstock for biodiesel, and bioethanol, production.Studies on the chemical composition of unprocessed hemp plant components (leaves, seeds, and flowers) and their threshing residues show that hemp has high contents of various nutrients, notably crude protein, and energy. As the acreage of industrial hemp increases, the hemp seed cake, baled hemp, hemp forage, and other hemp byproducts will increasingly become available to livestock producers as feed ingredients. The products also have good potential to partially replace the use of cereal grain in the animal ration (FAO 2019). However, the use of industrial hemp byproducts as value-added animal feeds cannot be realized until the production and physiologic effects of dietary hemp are understood in target ruminants, such as sheep, cattle, and goats. Given theunique browse feeding habits and detoxifying ability, goats could be more benefited from hemp biomass, if they are supplemented with the right amounts. Thus, the long-term goals of our project are to develop strategies for recycling hemp biomass residues as value-added and safe feed in goat diets in ways that add a novel nutrient resource to the animal feed ingredient pool. The objectives of the project include evaluating the nutritional values of hemp residue and understanding the effects of feeding hemp extraction residue on the growth, feed intake, and efficiency of milk yield and meat-producing goats. This will be accomplished by analyzing the nutrient profile of various hemp plant components and extraction residues from hemp processing facilities and determining the effects of the utilization of hemp extraction residues as goat feed in the production performance of goats and their product quality. Two hemp processing methods, namely cannabinoid extraction and oil extraction will be evaluated for their effects on the nutrient contents of hemp extraction residues. In addition, three plant components, namely seeds, flowers, and leaves from five hemp varieties. Following the nutrient content analysis, a feeding experiment will be conducted on growing and adult goats. A total of eighty weaned goats, 40 meat goats (Boer, Spanish, or Boer x Spanish), and 40 Alpine dairy goats, will be selected from the goat herd pool in the International Goat Research Center at Prairie View A&M University. Goats will randomly be assigned to four different dietary regimes or treatments, namelyT1 0%, (control), T2 5% (hemp biomass), T3 10%, and T4 15% (hemp biomass) on DM weight bases, for 120 days. Data on daily feed intake, feeding behavior, live body weight, and linear body measurements, including height at wither (HAW) and heart girth (HG) will be collected and analyzed to understand how the level of hemp in the ration will affect goat performances. Successful completion of this research project will deliver a value-added hemp diet, nutritionally efficient dairy and meat goats, cost-effective animal feed, enhanced goat milk and meat, reduced use of grain, and reduced environmental pollution from unused extraction residues.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
0%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
Project GoalsThe long-term goals of our project are to develop strategies for recycling hemp biomass residues as value-added and safe feed in goat diets in ways that add a novel nutrient resource to the animal feed ingredient pool. Enhancing the quality of animal products (meat, milk), improving animal health, and developing consumers' confidence in the acceptability of animal products is the second long-term goal of the project. We will achieve the first goal upon the completion of the following two proposed objectives:Project ObjectivesProject Objective 1:To evaluate and compare the nutritional profile of hemp residue from different hemp cannabinoid oil extraction industries across TexasProject Objective 2: To determine the effects of feeding hemp biomass extraction residue on growth rate residual feed intake (RFI), feed conversion efficiency, and milk yield in goats.
Project Methods
Overall Approach:Objective 1:To accomplish project objective 1in-vitro experiment will be conducted. We will determine the chemical composition of different hemp biomass derived from farm threshing byproducts, and industrial extraction residue as described below..Two hemp processing methods, namely Cannabinoid extraction and oil extraction will be evaluated for their effects on the nutrient contents of hemp extraction residues. In addition, three plant components, namely seeds, flowers, and leaves from five hemp varieties (American Victory, Sweet Sensi, Cherry Blossom, Cherry Wine, and Jin Ma), will be analyzed. Hemp plants will be grown in the CARC Greenhouse, and samples of leaves, seeds, and flowers will be collected. The data obtained in the study will be analyzed as randomized block designs, while LSD test will be used to determine the differences among the mean values to see any significant difference between processing methods (Cannabinoid vs Oil), components (seed vs flower vs leaves), hemp varieties (HV1 through HV5), and interaction (plant component x hemp variety).(Objective 2). In this component of the project, to achieve objective 2, two separate feeding experiments EXPERIMENT 1 and EXPERIMENT 2 will be conducted as follows:EXPERIMENT 1. Meat Goats (120 days). Forty weaned meat goats composed of Boer, Spanish, or Boer x Spanish, will be selected from the goat herd pool in the IGRC. Goats will randomly be assigned to four different dietary regimes or treatments as follows, T1 0%, (control), T2 5% (hemp biomass), T3 10%, and T4 15% on DM weight bases. Treatment diets will contain four levels of industrial hemp products as supplementary and unique pelleted diets will be prepared by blending different ingredients (forages, grains, minerals) that include one of the four levels of hemp biomass (0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%). Pelletizing of diets will be performed in University Feed Mill at the IGRC using a small-scale pellet milling machine that is proposed to be purchased in this project. Pellet diets will include Forty goats will be allocated to four treatments (10 goats/Treatment) and will be fed on a total mixed pelleted diet composed of an estimation of corn 10%, alfalfa 25%, bermudagrass 35%, soybean 10%, grain by products 15%, molasses 5%, mineral mix 2%, vitamins 3%, salt 1% and ammonium chloride 0.5% plus the different level of hemp biomass as outlined above. Treatment diets will be formulated to meet the NRC nutrient requirements for meat goats. Throughout the project, experimental goats will be housed in the GrowSafe Efficiency facility at the Goat Nutritional Barn of the International Goat Research Center and will have free access or ad libitum (24/7) to fresh clean water and mineral blocks.EXPERIMENT 2: Dairy Goat (120 days). In this experiment forty adult lactating Alpine does will be selected following kidding and will be put in four experimental diets (T1 to T4, as indicated in EXPERIMENT 1). Apart from data collection on milk yield and milk composition, all procedures and treatments used in EXPERIMENT 2 (See above for details) will be applied in EXPERIMENT 2. Milk samples will be collected from lactating does during milking in the IGRC milking parlor and will be measured for total fat and protein content, and fatty acid profile. Milk samples will be collected in the IGRC milking parlor and analyzed in the CARC Core lab. Animals will be milked twice a day and individual milk production will be collected withweekly milk samples for chemical analysis.