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A trial was conducted to determine the total rumen degradable protein intake (RDPI) required to maximise the digestible organic matter intake (DOMI) of beef cows consuming low quality grass hay from the northern variation of Cymbopogon-Themeda pasture type. Thirty-five pregnant (last trimester) Afrikaner × Simmentaler crossbred cows (517.08 ± 53.06 kg) were stratified according to fasted body weight and allocated to five treatments. A rumen degradable protein (RDP) source, calcium caseinate (90% crude protein on dry matter basis and 100% rumen degradable) was used and mixed with a molasses based concentrate. Treatments provided the following supplemental RDP levels/cow/day from casein: (1) control, 0 g, (2) 180 g, (3) 360 g, (4) 540 g, and (5) 720 g. The cows had ad libitum access to low quality grass hay (2.26% CP; 73.94% neutral detergent fibre, NDF). The trial period consisted of 14 d of adaptation, 21 d of the intake study, and 7 d of the digestibility study. No statistically significant influence of RDP on the apparent digestibility of DM, organic matter, or NDF was detected. The grass DM intake, DOMI, and metabolizable energy intake increased in a quadratic manner with increasing supplementary RDP. The single broken-line model predicted DOMI/kg metabolic weight (BW0.75) with higher accuracy than the quadratic regression procedure. According to this model, 4.03 g daily RDPI/kg BW0.75 or 8.07% RDP of digestible organic matter was required to maximise DOMI of pregnant beef cows consuming winter grassveld hay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "Cafeteria" has been commonly used in animal nutrition research and feeding practices for decades. The use of this term is, however, not consistently applied across all animal science domains and has different implications depending on the intended applications. The exactness of reference has also been altered from the term's original applied and common usage in time and space. Its current use and application presents inconsistencies that should be a cause for concern in animal nutrition. This letter seeks to briefly explore and discuss the context and intricacies of the use of the term "cafeteria" in animal nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]