BACKGROUND: The chemical compositions of traditional brewery (atella) and distillery (brint) by-products have been reported, but not for their utilisation practices. The utilisation practices could be determined based on predictors such as dairy production systems, farmers' wealth and engagement in projects. OBJECTIVES: The study objective was to assess the utilisation practices of traditional brewery (atella) and distillery (brint) by-products as dairy feed resources in Machakel District, East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. METHODOLOGY: A questionnaire survey method was used to collect data on traditional brewery/distillery by-product production, feeding practices and main feed resources for dairy cows in the study area. A total of five kebeles (three rural and two urban-peri-urban) were purposively selected based on the presence of cross-bred dairy cows. A total of 272 respondents (126 from rural areas and 146 from urban-peri-urban areas) with different farmer wealth statuses were used. The study did not employ the model by considering the predictors. Then, the results were reported as per the individual predictor. RESULTS: The main feed resources for the livestock in the study area were wheat and oat straw, in addition to brint and atella, hay and grazing lands, and a limited amount of concentrate feed was also a source of feed in the area. The survey results revealed that the utilisation practices of brints and atella have been an emerging feed resource in dairy cow nutrition. Crop residue is a major feed resource for dairy cow production in the study area. In this regard, traditional brewery/distillery by-products play a great role in treating crop residues by wetting techniques, as practised by farmers. The majority (56%) of farmers preferred brints for their better feeding value than atella. Wetting crop residues with brints and atella are the major forms of feeding these traditional by-products in the study area. The perception of farmers of brint is higher than that of Atella in dairy feeding. Urban-peri-urban, wealthier farmers and project intervention encouraged more utilisation practices. CONCLUSION: This utilisation practice could help dairy producers utilise major feed resources (crop residues) in crop-livestock-dominant production systems in a sustainable manner by employing wetting techniques to reduce fibre and could help dairy cows consume more.
Mossie et al. (Fri,) studied this question.