Role of high molasses diets in the live exports supply chain

Abstract

This study compared two nutrition management strategies in the supply chain of cattle exported from northern Australia to the Philippines. One was the traditional protocol, which involved transport from a grazing property to the coast, adaptation to the shipboard diet in yards near the port, a sea voyage and finally finishing on a local feedlot diet in the destination country. The other strategy involved feeding a high molasses diet (50% of the dry matter) for 50 days prior to export, during the voyage and throughout the finishing period. The experiment was conducted under commercial conditions and unplanned events occurred. The data show that feeding cattle productive low cost diets in depots near ports may be a viable alternative to the more conventional export protocol, at times of the year when the supply of northern cattle is restricted due to seasonal conditions.