Potatoe waste

[canadianfarmboy]

Just seeing if anyone uses potatoe waste for feeding cattle ? How do u like it ? amount u feed . I have an unlimited supply if need be , free of charge delivred . Been using it for sometime , as my father used to use it in the feedlot . Windeirng what everyone else thought of it .

 

[3waycross]

I sell boxed beef for a living and I remember about 15yrs ago being told that a lot of the beef from the northwest was a little washy compared to midwest because of the use of potato peelings. I honestly don't know if that was true or not but that was the rumor.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Do a search on the web-- there is lots of information on feeding potato waste from canneries.

 

[Douglas]

Dan Quayle?

 

[shorty]

When I grew potatoes I fed culls when I did'nt have sale for them , when I fed them to steers the feed salesman said as long I didn't go over 10lbs per head per day they would be fine . when I fed them to cows they sometimes got more than that , I never had any problems feeding potatoes. But I don't know anything about peelings.

 

[Dave]

There are a lot of cattle on feed in the northwest that eat potatoe waste. All of the large potatoe processing plants have feedlots located somewhere nearby. Cattle do well on it. The stuff from the commercial processors tends to have a very high moisture content so you have to realize you are feeding a lot of water. I know a lot of guys who feed cull potatoes when the prices get low enough. I had one dairy farmer tell me he was feeding 10 pounds a day. His cows loved them and milk production stayed up.

 

[stockman12]

Just keep in mind it is just a roughage and a poor one. They need some good groceries to go with it.

 

[TexasBred]

Just keep in mind it is just a roughage and a poor one. They need some good groceries to go with it.

Absolutely...very little protein, mostly water and little of anything else. And I seriously doubt the dairyman got much if any milk increase due to feeding potatoes. But if they're free then the price is right.

 

[canadianfarmboy]

Thanks for the information so far . I have a pot load of cattle going tuesday , been on the waste for a while now . Should see what kind of gain i get when they go over the scales . As far as potatoe waste only being roughage i cant agree with that . THe cattle have cut back on hay somewhat , but from what ive been reading it for much more than a roughage .

 

[stockman12]

Thanks for the information so far . I have a pot load of cattle going tuesday , been on the waste for a while now . Should see what kind of gain i get when they go over the scales . As far as potatoe waste only being roughage i cant agree with that . THe cattle have cut back on hay somewhat , but from what ive been reading it for much more than a roughage .

So what did the feed analysis say on your potatoes and the hay you fed?

 

[TexasBred]

Thanks for the information so far . I have a pot load of cattle going tuesday , been on the waste for a while now . Should see what kind of gain i get when they go over the scales . As far as potatoe waste only being roughage i cant agree with that . THe cattle have cut back on hay somewhat , but from what ive been reading it for much more than a roughage .

There will be a few carbs in there but not much else. Maybe "filler" would be a better word. Things like this can always be used especailly when it's free, just don't set your expectations to high.

 

[stockman12]

I think canadian farmboy actually stumbled on the answer. He said they cut down on hay. If he was feeding a high quality hay he could get along with feeding this waste.

Texasbred you are exactly right in what the makeup would generally be.

Around here waste of this sort is fed at times, but the old saying if you feed them this strictly the cattle will starve with a full stomach. The guy that discards this waste agrees, he says it is only a filler. Until you can get cattle to gain weight strictly on water...proceed with caution

 

[Howdyjabo]

Feeding potato waste is just like feeding grain with ALOT of water. With the exception of that it has little protein or fat.

It generally has 83% water
almost no fibre(.48%)
and a TDN of 81%

If you are close (keep shipping costs down on all that water)
If you are feeding mechanized
And you have storage capabilities

Its a no brainer that its a good ingredient if you need extra energy.

It is NOT filler or fiber and to use it like that would be catastrophic. I would be concerned about trying to feed it without mixing it in a TMR, I would worry that some animals would eat too much of it and not enough hay. I would also be very careful that they were getting protein from something- and it would have to be a VERY good hay to supply enough.

 

[novaman]

Feeding potato waste is just like feeding grain with ALOT of water. With the exception of that it has little protein or fat.

It generally has 83% water
almost no fibre(.48%)
and a TDN of 81%

If you are close (keep shipping costs down on all that water)
If you are feeding mechanized
And you have storage capabilities

Its a no brainer that its a good ingredient if you need extra energy.

It is NOT filler or fiber and to use it like that would be catastrophic. I would be concerned about trying to feed it without mixing it in a TMR, I would worry that some animals would eat too much of it and not enough hay. I would also be very careful that they were getting protein from something- and it would have to be a VERY good hay to supply enough.

Little confused by this post. Are those numbers correct on the TDN? Also, you say it isn't a filler so what is it composed of? I would assume there would be a little starch left from the inner portion of the potatoe. Is the skin that digestible?

 

[TexasBred]

The TDN might be that high on a 100 dry matter basis but since it's 85% water a cow would have to eat 100 lbs. per day to get 15 lbs. of dry matter with that TDN. But then there would be no room left for high quality "anything". 15 lbs. of corn would give just as much energy, more protein plus other nutrients. As mentioned above the cow can starve to death with a full belly. Guess she would die contented. Best use might be to add some yeast, sugar and water and make something drinkable from it. :lol2:

 

[Howdyjabo]

Cattle can consume a ration that is 40% Dry Matter without any intake losses.

So if you were feeding 51% potatoes(as is) or 20% DM-- 12% CGF(as is) or 20% DM--- 37% hay(as is) or 60% DM
That would give you a decent growing ration at about 53% DM. The papers I have read say that inclusion over 20% of the ration(DM) has some negative results to consider so using potato waste as your sole energy supplement is not ideal in finishing rations.

Eliminating bought corn at 20% (DM) of the ration is very economical especially with potatoe waste being a free ingredient in this case.

Now feeding it with other wet ingredients(including pasture grasses) would put you over the 40% DM limit fairly quickly and you would have consumption issues. Supplementing cows on grass would be feasible but I would think it to be too problematic to be worth it.


If you talk with any human nutritionist they will tell you that by cutting the skins off of potatoes you are getting rid of the best nutrients -- and the way they skin and throw out the small potatoes you are left with plenty of starch.

 

[canadianfarmboy]

I may not have been clear on an explanation of potatoe waste that i am using . The feed is mostly peelings with some potatoe mixed in . Perhaps 50/50 if i had to guess . YOu can take a handful of this waste make a ball and it will fall apart , so not as wet as maybe you guys are used to . Ill have to see if i can get some pics up if I can remember . Thanks again

 

[novaman]

I may not have been clear on an explanation of potatoe waste that i am using . The feed is mostly peelings with some potatoe mixed in . Perhaps 50/50 if i had to guess . YOu can take a handful of this waste make a ball and it will fall apart , so not as wet as maybe you guys are used to . Ill have to see if i can get some pics up if I can remember . Thanks again

That doesn't mean much as far as moisture content. I can take corn silage (which is 30% DM) and ball it and it will fall apart as well.

 

[TexasBred]

Cattle can consume a ration that is 40% Dry Matter without any intake losses.

So if you were feeding 51% potatoes(as is) or 20% DM-- 12% CGF(as is) or 20% DM--- 37% hay(as is) or 60% DM
That would give you a decent growing ration at about 53% DM. The papers I have read say that inclusion over 20% of the ration(DM) has some negative results to consider so using potato waste as your sole energy supplement is not ideal in finishing rations.

Eliminating bought corn at 20% (DM) of the ration is very economical especially with potatoe waste being a free ingredient in this case.

Now feeding it with other wet ingredients(including pasture grasses) would put you over the 40% DM limit fairly quickly and you would have consumption issues. Supplementing cows on grass would be feasible but I would think it to be too problematic to be worth it.


If you talk with any human nutritionist they will tell you that by cutting the skins off of potatoes you are getting rid of the best nutrients -- and the way they skin and throw out the small potatoes you are left with plenty of starch.

Jabo you lost me here my friend. Dry matter intake is what you DO want. Water (high moisture) would be the intake limiter as they would be full of water with very little dry matter and very little nutrition. If you want moisture in a ration don't buy it in the ingredients. Add it with a water hose and trying to replace corn with potatoe waste is totally infeasible from a nutritional standpoint unless you make big adjustment to the total ration elsewhere. High dry matter intake is the goal and preferably high quality dry matter.

 

[Howdyjabo]

We are talking about the same stuff. Its AMAZING how much water can be in something that still has a solid form. I feed one that is 14% DM and it gets dumped off the truck and just sits there in a pile. Ever check and see how much moisture is in grass especially in the spring?

Not sure how I can get any clearer on DM consumption values and limiting factors when feeding a wet product. They are used ALL the time and very successfully if you follow the rules.

Again- I wouldn't play with potato waste unless I had a TMR mixer to control consumption.