Graphical Abstract
Fiber is required for high concentrate diets to maintain proper rumen function. The type and amount of roughage included in the ration exhibit regional variability due to costs, availability and type of cattle. Recent papers have addressed rumen fiber digestion in response to live yeast products (Cagle et al., 2019), recombinant xylanase (Ran et al, 2019) and mixed fibrolytic enzymes (Kondratovich et al., 2019) with variable results. In this issue, Goulart et al. (2020a and 2020b) examines the effects of atypical roughage sources and dietary inclusion rate on rumen function in Nellore cattle. The papers provide new insight into the importance of particle size, chewing time and rumen acidity.
References
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