Reusing existing feed sources is a solution that can be used to create the best type of feed for ruminants. This power source is sometimes not used much and is wasted a lot and economically it does not have a high value as one of the agricultural waste. Actually, various agricultural wastes have good potential to be reused as animal feed.

By using agricultural waste as animal feed ingredients, you can certainly save on feed costs. This is because agricultural waste is quite large, abundant and easy to obtain. Agricultural residues have characteristics of high crude fiber content and low nitrogen, calcium and phosphorous content. This causes the waste to have low digestibility and limited consumption. However, the potential to be used as a source of energy is very large. Here we will give examples of some animal feed ingredients from agricultural waste that you may not know about.

1. Rice straw

Rice straw has been widely used as a feed ingredient for ruminants. Up to 30% of these agricultural residues are used as animal feed. However, for now, the application of the straw fermentation method for livestock feed is mainly used for industrial needs and is used as the basic material for making organic fertilizers.

2. Straw bean plants

The walnut type of straw is also a widely used agricultural waste and is well known to ruminant farmers. In legumes, the most used for livestock are mung bean straw, soybean straw and peanut straw.

3. Gaplek or Onggok

Types of processed or cultivated cassava have been widely used as feed ingredients for ruminants and in the way of successful livestock. This cassava or cassava has the advantage that it is easy to produce large amounts of energy and is almost equivalent to corn. However, the protein source of cassava or manioc is relatively low and the cyanide content is quite high, so when you want to feed it to animals, you should first pay attention to how it is processed.

4. Corn straw

You can reuse corn straw for feed ingredients for ruminants, such as for fat-tailed sheep. Corn straw has a nutritional content that can be said to be low compared to legume straw. Still, corn straw is still better than rice straw. The nutritional content of corn straw includes 5% protein and 50% TDN. In addition to corn straw, there are several other types of corn crop residue that can be used for additional profit.

5. Coconut feces

Agricultural waste from coconut grounds is coconut cake and also coconut meat, which is usually only disposed of without reuse as feed for domestic scale livestock farming. However, it turns out that there is quite a bit of content in coconut meat that is needed by cattle, such as crude protein at 18%, fiber at 12%, and also fat at 8%.

6. Tofu stool

Tofu grounds are produced from the manufacture of tofu. This type of feed is very easy to obtain because there are still very few who use tofu grounds for animal feed from agricultural waste. As for the stool content of tofu, including fat by 4%, ash by 1%, protein by 18%, and also water by 52%.

7. Palm oil waste

Agricultural waste from oil palm plantations can be reused as animal feed, such as cattle farming, both leaves and palm leaves. Processing of palm midribs can be done by fermentation just like silage. Many palm oil companies support animal feed from the by-products of the palm oil industry in the form of palm sludge or solid settler, palm kernel cake or palm kernel cake and also parts of palm leaves.

For leaves, each tree will produce 22 leaves per year which can produce 9 tons of fresh leaves per year or the equivalent of 0.66 tons of dry matter per year. Meanwhile, an adult cow with a live weight of 250 kg requires 8.75 kg of dry feed per day.

Palm mud, which is very popular with livestock, especially cattle, is given fresh or fermented along with other ingredients. Meanwhile, palm kernel cake is a potential raw material for food as a source of crude protein, about 18-22%. Like other waste foods, this palm oil waste also has drawbacks due to its high fiber content compared to protein foods.

8. Coffee skin residue

The development of coffee processing, whether on a small scale or on an industrial scale, the by-product of the processing process, namely coffee husk waste, is also increasing. Coffee processing will produce about 65% of the coffee beans and 35% of the coffee hull residue that can be reused as animal feed, for example, for fattening limousine cattle.

The coffee residues will be fermented to increase their nutritional content. Coffee husk fermentation generally uses a solution of Aspergillus niger which is then placed in the shade and left for 5-6 days for the fermentation process. Subsequently, the fermented product will be dried and then ground according to the needs and the fermented coffee husk waste is ready to be used as animal feed.

9. Sugar cane waste

The main wastes from sugarcane plants can also be used as animal feed, namely sugarcane sprouts, bagasse, mosales and also pith. From the total sugar cane, 1.8 million tons of sugar cane waste can be obtained per year. Sugarcane sprouts are plant waste that has the potential to be used as animal feed. Sugarcane sprouts have 60-62% better digestibility than rice straw and can be used as animal feed material from agricultural waste to replace elephant grass for fattening cows.

While Mosales is the molasses that is usually used as an energy source. Mosales can provide up to 80% energy for cattle and also increase daily weight by 0.7-0.9 per kilogram per day when pasture supplies are limited.

10. Cocoa plant residues

Cocoa plants are plants that can grow well in the tropics, including Indonesia. Cocoa fruit shells are generally just the main waste from the cocoa plant that can actually be reused as animal feed, for example to fatten cows. Cocoa pods contain a crude protein content of 6 to 12%, which is slightly higher than rice straw but almost equivalent to elephant grass.

The crude fiber content in cocoa pods is 27-31% cellulose and 10-13% hemicellulose, which is lower than rice straw. For its part, the content of lignin contained between 12 to 19% was 3 times higher than that of rice straw. In general, the level of digestibility of cocoa husks is lower than that of rice straw. Although other cocoa waste, such as cocoa bean hulls and sludge, contain higher levels of crude protein and TDN, these byproducts have not been used optimally as animal feed because the amount produced is relatively low.

11. tea grounds

Tea grounds are remnants of tea stew, which are usually leftovers from beverages consumed by humans every day. This tea ground is sold at a price of around 100 rupees per kilogram with a moisture content of between 35 and 40%. Due to the nutritional content, tea feces are good to use as a source of protein and fiber for rabbit feed.

12. beer grounds

Beer grounds are the residues from the boiling of wheat whose liquid is used for the brewing industry. Beer grounds can be purchased at a price of around Rs 250 per kilogram or the equivalent of Rp. 1,250 per kilogram of dry faeces to be administered as a way of treating goats to make them gain weight rapidly. Using 10-30% dry beer grounds for rations can reduce the cost of feeding cattle. But sadly, the negative and positive impact of beer grounds on livestock is unknown so far.

13. Corn on the cob

Corn cobs are often used as feed by ranchers due to the high fiber and protein content after the fermentation process. Meanwhile, the dried corn stalks, leaves and dried skin can also be used as livestock or ruminant feed after going through the fermentation process.

14. dried herb

Dried grass or old grass, either elephant grass or old grass, can be used as cattle feed and also as a way to raise Javanese goats without raking, but cows don’t like it very much, so they often discard them. farmers. However, in fact, if the dry and old grass is fermented and stored, during the lean season farmers have no problem obtaining animal feed.

15. Straw Kangkung

Water spinach plant waste is very commonly used as alternative animal feed, which is often called rendeng kangkung. Water spinach straw will be processed that way, either dried or wilted, and is very well used as a potential animal feed.

That’s 15 animal feed ingredients from agricultural waste that can be used by breeders, hopefully useful.