Could Guar be the Next Star in Dairy Rations?
Guar is not a common crop grown in the United States, nor is it widely used here as a livestock feedstuff.
But that picture may be changing, as alternative crops are explored, and nutritionists and producers search for more affordable ration ingredients.
Guar is a legume plant closely akin to the string bean. Both the plant and seed are high in protein, and the seed also delivers a healthy load of carbohydrate. Guar gum, which is processed from the endosperm of guar seeds, has many industrial uses. It is employed as a stabilizing or emulsifying ingredient in cosmetics and food products, and is even more widely used in the energy industry.
The unique viscosity properties of guar gum make it highly desirable for stabilizing water and sand mixtures when extracting gas and oil via drilling.
The co-product of guar gum processing is guar meal. It is the combined germ fraction and hull fraction that remain after guar gum is extracted from the seed.
According to Ted McCollum, retired Extension beef cattle specialist at Texas A&M University, guar meal contains between 35 and 50% crude protein (CP), depending on the degree of gum removal and the relative concentrations of the germ and hull that are re-combined.
By comparison, soybean meal is 44-48% CP; cottonseed meal is 41-44%CP; and canola meal is 35-38% CP. Feedipedia shows a balanced amino acid profile for guar meal. It also lists ruminant nutrient values for guar meal about 10% lower than soybean meal for organic matter digestibility, energy digestibility, digestible energy, and metabolizable energy, with higher nitrogen digestibility.
India currently grows about 80% of the world’s guar supply, and its name means “cow food” in Hindi. In addition to guar meal, it is customary to harvest the guar plant as a high-protein forage source for cattle in India and other arid regions of the world.
New Mexico State University researcher Kulbhushan Grover, a native of India, believes the popular plant from his homeland could soon find a place in the agricultural fields of the United States.
“It is one of the most drought-tolerant plants, and we are looking at it as an alternative crop for areas like New Mexico because of water issues,” said Grover.
The United States is one of the world’s biggest guar importers, so domestic consumption of the crop likely would be strong. Grover said the demand for guar gum in the oil industry alone far outstrips supply, and currently, there is only on guar processor in the U.S.
In addition to the energy and protein power it packs, McCollum noted there is some evidence that guar meal also may have some antimicrobial properties that improve gut health.
As early as 1968, the Journal of Dairy Science published a study on “Guar Meal in Dairy Rations.” Its ability to tolerate heat and water stress, while providing essential amino acids and relatively high energy, suggest that it might be a viable crop and feed option to revisit in the U.S. today.
For more on dairy nutrition, read:
- Are Cows Getting Enough to Eat? Try the “Semicircle” Test
- Feeding Behavior Can Signal Issues with Feed Quality, Management
- Make the Most of Milk Check by Maximizing Components
