Abstract
Oil palm plantations provide locally available forage resources, including oil palm fronds and inter-row vegetation, but the nutritional limitations of these materials require appropriate formulation. This study aimed to formulate two forage-based complete ration candidates using local forage resources and to evaluate their nutrient composition and in vitro utilization characteristics. Ration 1 (R1) consisted of
rice bran, Leucaena leucocephala, field grass, Gliricidia sepium,
and
oil palm fronds,
whereas Ration 2 (R2) consisted of
rice bran, Leucaena leucocephala, elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum), Gliricidia sepium,
and
oil palm fronds.
The experiment used two formulations with five replicates, and each replicate consisted of 5 different plastic silage bags. The calculated nutrient contents of R1 and R2 were 52.652-54.032% TDN, 14.026-14.472% crude protein, 31.852-31.978% crude fiber, and 58.932-59.162% NDF. Laboratory analysis of the silage showed crude protein of 14.00-15.79%, crude fiber of 23.60-28.84%, and NDF of 60.05-64.48%. In vitro dry matter digestibility (DMD) was 65.38 ± 3.88% in R1 and 68.09 ± 7.79% in R2, while organic matter digestibility (OMD) was 63.09 ± 1.01% and 63.29 ± 8.15%, respectively. Ammonia (NH3) concentration was 7.91 ± 0.29 mM in R1 and 8.73 ± 0.79 mM in R2. No significant differences were detected between formulations for DMD, OMD, or NH3 concentration. The calculated TDN and several mineral concentrations were below the reference requirements, while fiber concentrations were high. Therefore, the two formulations should be regarded as preliminary forage-based complete ration candidates rather than nutritionally complete rations for finishing beef cattle. Further formulation improvement, verification of fermentation quality, and in vivo validation are required.