Bio Moss in lick tubs for fiber digestion

[Amo]

Hey. Every company has what I call a "fairy dust" product that will solve every problem....if you know what I mean. Im fairly fimiliar with biomoss. Takes pataogens out of the rumen to improve gut health etc. Anyway, so there are several dealers around here with "rumen packs" of yeast that stimulate the rumen for fiber digestion, or there's rio max products with basically the same sales pitch. Well biomoss is a yeast based product. My feedman actually has a "biomoss 2.0" called actigen. Was chatting with him today about it. Im going to cornstalks with cows and calves. He said that if it was his cows (and he has some cows) he'd use the tubs with the actigen/biomoss. No scientific proof that it helps with better digestion, but says the cows sure look better. Says it feeds the rumen bugs with makes more bugs to help with digestion. Which I kinda follow his logic, and its the same basic pholisphy as say the rio tubs or rumen packs in the mineral. About $20 more per 250# tub. Just curious if anyone was enough of an expert to confirm my logic or is all this just more fairy dust sales pitch?

 

[cjmc]

So a lot going on here. I'll try to answer everything. But this is a somewhat complicated discussion... First biomos (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and it's competitive products. I don't believe these products improve fiber digestion. I've seen some research where they improve feed efficiency & I think that's what companies are touting.. BUT those studies were with stressed fresh weaned calves. The product didn't improve digestion, it improved health & Healthy cattle eat more & convert better. In the studies with healthy cattle it did nothing for feed efficiency! It's a good product, but its best for during calving season reducing scouring or post weaning helping with health- not fiber digestion. I'm not sure what the "other" tubs were outside of Rio, but there are products companies add to that do improve fiber digestion of lower quality forage. The most well known would be amaferm (Aspergillus oryzae). Products like amaferm have been well researched and definitely improve fiber digestion on low quality feed. Rio has an add pack that is amaferm plus a bunch of stuff. I'm not a big fan of that product in general. I don't believe in their "IST" that's not how a rumen works... if it's deficient in protein- supplement protein. Additional protein will do way more for performance than any add pack if cattle are deficient in protein. Then there is the cost of the product which is about 3‐5x the cost of most programs/hd/d. Long story short, if you just need protein skip the mos. Then during calving season add it if needed. Most of these "fairy dust" products pushed by big name companies do work. BUT, just because some research shows it worked in X situation. Doesn't mean you can feed it year round & improve performance. Take biomos for instance, fed for 30 days post weaning on stressed cattle. Probably improves performance. Fed 30 days prior to harvest - does nothing. Amaferm isn't any different. Biggest bang for your buck on really hard grass. Marginal if any advantage on lush green easily digested forage.

 

[Amo]

You did excellent! I agree, biomoss is more a spring type of product. The other products that's had a "rumen pack" that weren't the rio product are a mineral. The main ingredient in that pack is amaferm. I'm fimilar with the product and if I was adding fairy dust I'd prefer amaferm over biomoss/actigen. As far as Rio, I was talking to a local feed store who started (and has since quit) selling rio. He tried to push the rumen pack as I call it. Which I think amaferm kinda does what it claims. I just said for the expense I can feed extra protein and if I got a little energy (corn) to offset what the urea burns up it accomplishes the same thing. Just ford vs Chevy.

I probably used the term fiber digestion incorrectly. I'm going to cornstalks with spring pairs. Yes, I'll probably feed some creep. Fiber digestion/feed conversion....at the end of the day I'm going to have low quality feed and wanting to get as much gain on the calves and body condition on the cows as I can. I know ideally I'd wean and just run the cows. I got more acres than cows, and want to get the stalks used in case they get snowed under permanently. Trying to keep this short, figured I'd better have some tubs out. Weather it's better intake which increases gains or breaks it down so they get more out of it......I guess it's increased performance. I have a friend who mixed actigen in the meal form in with his mineral and fed it last fall. He did it for reasons other than feed conversion/gain. He was impressed with how they looked. He's pretty picky and cheap. Guess I'm like you, and question it for feed conversion/gain. Yes those other products talk about amaferm, but (rio...guess I'm not sure) also talk about feeding the rumen bugs with yeast. Which more bugs in the rumen, it should help to digest it was what I was wondering about.

 

[Amo]

You did excellent, and I agree it's more of a calving product. I'm familiar with amafirm. If I had a choice of fairy dust products, I'd take it over the biomoss/actigen. The non rio products are a mineral with amafirm as an ingredient. They do call it a rumen pack and claim yeast feeds the rumen bugs. I think rio kinda preaches the same....i think. More bugs should help make low quality forage more digestible.....or that was the angle that I was contemplating. Maybe it'd just increase intakes. I also agree feeding extra protein especially some urea should break it down. Rio was never an option. Just using it as an example to explain my logic.

I'm looking at taking spring pairs to cornstalks. Yes, I know I should wean, but more stalks than cows. Want to get them used before the snow gets deep. I'll probably creep feed too. Guess the point of the question is, even if there's some corn in the field it's still low quality feed. I probably used the term wrong. Fiber digestion/feed efficiency...... wanting to get the most gain on my calves and condition (their not thin) on the cows. Talked to a guy I know who fed the actigen last year in his mineral for reasons different than me. He's pretty cheap and skeptical. He said they looked really slick and good shape when they went to grass. I wouldn't spend the money on the Rio's. $20 more on a 250# tub isn't a lot more if I'd get a return. A healthy rumen should help with digestion is what Im thinking, but on the flip side a 30/10 tub should be a plenty. Only thing is consumption is around .66 a day. So IDK if that's enough to cut the mustard or not.

Thanks for the information.

 

[Amo]

Well crap, my phone died and I thought the first post never got sent. So tried it again. Sorry for the double post.