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 3/17/2024

Beef Perspective on Enogen® Feed Corn Hybrids

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Silage harvest operation

Shared from Inside the ZONE® newsletter, Pioneer Nutritional Sciences

What Are Enogen Feed Corn Hybrids?

Enogen feed corn hybrids are transgenic corn with an enzyme technology (event 3272) marketed only by Syngenta. Enogen feed corn hybrids express a bacterial alpha-amylase, the enzyme is contained in the endosperm of the kernel and breaks down cornstarch into sugar. This technology was originally designed for the ethanol industry to replace liquid fermentation enzymes used in ethanol production and promised added premium opportunities for growers. There has been limited adoption of Enogen feed corn hybrids among ethanol plants and corn growers. Recently, Syngenta began promoting Enogen feed corn hybrids as a superior feed for both grain corn and silage.

What Are Their Claims?

Syngenta claims that Enogen feed corn hybrids significantly increase starch and sugar availability in ruminant diets. In addition, claims of improved fiber digestibility have been made implying that Enogen feed corn hybrids feed similarly to brown mid-rib (BMR) hybrids.

The Facts

Enogen feed corn hybrids do not contain a BMR gene.
The Enogen alpha-amylase trait was developed to produce more ethanol from corn kernels in an industrial setting. There are no credible explanations why an amylase in the kernel would impact fiber digestibility.

Enogen feed corn hybrids present no advantage in fiber quality.
Pioneer silage plots from 2017 showed no significant difference in fiber digestibility between Enogen feed corn hybrids and Pioneer brand non BMR silage products; both of which demonstrated inferior fiber digestibility compared to Pioneer brand BMR products in the same trials.

  # of Comps Tons/acre
@35% DM		 Starch % NDFD 24 h
Pioneer (standard) 81 25.2 39.4 53.4
Enogen 24.0 37.4 53.6
Pioneer Advantage 1.2 2.0 -0.2
Pioneer (BMR) 34 23.4 36.4 59.5
Enogen 24.4 38.5 53.9

2017-2020 strip trial comparisons of Pioneer® versus Enogen feed corn products within 5 relative maturity units of each other (OH, MI, WI, IA, MN, SD, and NE).

The alpha-amylase in Enogen feed corn hybrids does not work at rumen temperature.
The bacterial alpha-amylase is marketed as “robust” by Syngenta because remains active and stable in adverse conditions. In fact, the enzyme’s ideal working temperature range is 160 – 220 ̊F. Clearly, Enogen is an industrial product not developed to work in animals, given that rumen temperature is quite lower and stable (101–104 ̊F in healthy cows), Kung et al., 20101.

Enogen feed corn is not food-grade corn.
The bacterial alpha-amylase in Enogen feed corn can cause a number of corn food production issues like non-forming dough, crumbly chips, and soggy cereal2. Growing Enogen requires adherence to a stewardship protocol3, nevertheless due to the potential of Enogen contamination markets like ethanol production, grain handling and grain milling4 require continuous inbound testing for the Enogen GMO trait to manage the risk of contamination5.

Growing Enogen feed corn takes away flexibility compared to any other regular commodity corn.
In addition to 30 ft. physical or border rows, the stewardship protocol requires cleaning all equipment used in planting, harvest, transport, and storage. Upon harvest, all grain and/or silage must be segregated from non-Enogen corn. Moreover, the closed-loop system forces the grower to commit the crop for animal feed and prevents from selling into the commodity if the market economics are favorable.

Animal trial data is very limited on Enogen feed corn.
Note that data collected in dairy cows has little value for nutrition of beef cattle. This is because intakes, as well as fiber and starch levels fed are not comparable.

To date, there are only 6 university trials reported. However, only two of those studies6,7 have been published as articles in a peer-reviewed journal.

Studies have tested Enogen feed corn inclusion in beef growing calf and finishing rations as dry ground or rolled grain, high moisture grain, steam-flaked, or silage. Some trials used the corresponding isogenic counterpart (background hybrid minus the bacterial alpha-amylase transgene) or a regular hybrid as control.

  1. Schoonmaker, 20146 (Iowa State) tested 3 inclusion levels ( 0, 10, 20 % of diet dry matter) of Enogen as ground grain fed to 72 yearling Angus cross steers. All diets were kept identical in composition by replacing Enogen with regular ground corn at 20, 10, and 0 % of diet dry matter. Steers were slaughtered after 131 d on feed. No differences were observed among treatments on growth performance or carcass characteristics. Meaning that all parameters measured (intake, ADG, feed efficiency, hotcarcass weight, dressing %, LM area, marbling score, etc.) were identical. Researchers concluded that Enogen did not have any effect when fed at 10% nor at 20% of diet dry matter to beef steers.
  2. Jolly-Breithaupt, 20168 (U of Nebraska) compared Enogen versus its isogenic hybrid, fed as dry rolled and high moisture corn to 384 crossbred steers for 173 d. Regardless of corn type, intakes and feed efficiency (F:G) was higher when steers were fed dry rolled grain than high moisture corn, while no differences were observed on ADG, nor in any carcass characteristics. Final BW was the same when steers were fed Enogen as DRC or regular HMSC, and higher than when steers were fed Enogen as HMSC or regular DRC. Overall, there were no significant effects of Enogen on steer performance nor in carcass characteristics. Researchers concluded that results are not consistent and vary with other diet ingredients in the ration such as corn gluten feed or DDGS.
  3. Johnson, 20189 (Kansas State) compared feeding Enogen or regular corn as either dry rolled or whole grain to growing calves for 90 d. Calves on Enogen pen tended to be higher ADG (3.43 vs. 3.35 lb/d, p<0.09), and marginally better feed efficiency (5.9 vs. 6.3, p<0.01), probably related to a tendency for lower intakes (20.5 vs. 21.1 lb/d, p<0.09). However, final BW was not different between both groups (851 vs. 843 lb, p=0.1).
  4. Johnson, 201910 (Kansas State) looked into Enogen as silage or dry rolled grain to determine if any effect on growing calves fed for 90 d was additive. Intakes tended to be higher (20.2 vs. 20 lb/d, p=0.07) as well as feed efficiency (6.2 vs. 6.5, p=0.02) for calves on Enogen silage. However, final BW was not different between both groups (953 vs. 943 lb, p=0.1). No significant effects of corn grain type were noted over the entire trial, nor any significant interactions between corn silage type and corn grain type.
  5. Baker, 201911 (Kansas State) compared feeding Enogen or regular corn as either silage or steam-flaked grain to finishing steers. Intakes were 0.86 lb/d lower when steers were fed Enogen silage, no effects on ADG, but F:G improved (5.6 vs. 5.8, p<0.01). However, feeding Enogen steam-flaked resulted in lower feed efficiency (5.8 vs. 5.6,p=0.02). Final BW was not different among groups.
  6. Rusche, 20207 (South Dakota State) tested Enogen silage at 12 or 24% of DM against regular corn. Silage hybrid did not affect ADG, gain-to-feed ratio, or final BW. Feeding 24% silage reduced ADG (p=0.04) and increased F:G (p< 0.01). Researchers reported the regular hybrid producing 18.5 ton/acre silage, while Enogen 17 ton/acre, resulting in a significant difference in beef produced per acre of 119 lb (1,717 vs. 1,598 lb/acre, p<0.01), a relevant metric for cattle feeders that grow their own forage.

In a meta-analysis of Enogen finishing trials published in 202112, the authors stated that “performance was similar for Enogen and conventional hybrids when processed and fed as high-moisture corn”. This would suggest no value when fed as corn silage containing less mature kernels. The authors further stated that “overall, the response of Enogen Feed Corn has been variable across studies depending on the corn processing method and byproduct utilized. In addition, studies conducted at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) have shown small numerical improvements that were often not significant statistically".

References

  1. Hu, W., M.E. Persia, and L. Kung, Jr. 2010. Short communication: in vitro ruminal fermentability of a modified corn cultivar expressing a thermotolerant alpha-amylase. J Dairy Sci. 93(10):4846-9.
  2. Erickson, A. Comment on Docket No: APHIS-2007-0016, USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Editor. 2011, Corn Refiners Association.
  3. Syngenta. Enogen Stewardship Guide. 2018 May, 2023.
  4. Holdgreve, C., Comment on Docket No: APHIS-2007-0016, USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Editor. 2009, National Grain and Feed Association, the North American Export Grain Association, the North American Millers Association and the Pet Food Institute.
  5. Envirologix. Case Study: High-Sensitivity Testing for Enogen Corn. 2022 8/20/2023.
  6. Schoonmaker, J., M. Persia, and D. Beitz. 2014. Effect of feeding corn modified to contain a unique amylase on performance and carcass characteristics of feedlot steers. The Professional Animal Scientist. 30(5):561-565.
  7. Rusche, W.C., J.A. Walker, and Z.K. Smith. 2020. Effect of inclusion rate of silage with or without alpha-amylase trait on finishing steer growth performance, carcass characteristics, and agronomic efficiency measures.
  8. Transl Anim Sci. 4(2). Jolly-Breithaupt, M.L., C.J. Bittner, D. Burken Burken, G.E. Erickson, J.C. MacDonald, and M.K. Luebbe. 2016. Evaluating syngenta enhanced feed corn processed as dry-rolled or high-moisture corn on cattle performance and carcass characteristics. Beef Cattle Reports. University of Nebraska - Lincoln.139-142.
  9. Johnson, M., T. Spore, S. Montgomery, C. Weibert, J. Garzón, W. Hollenbeck, R. Wahl, E. Watson, and D. Blasi. 2018. Syngenta enhanced feed corn (enogen) containing an alpha amylase expression trait improves feed efficiency in growing calf diets. Cattlemen's Day, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports. New Prairie Press, Kansas State University. 4(1):8-11.
  10. Johnson, M., T. Spore, S. Montgomery, W. Hollenbeck, R. Wahl, E. Watson, and D. Blasi. 2020. Syngenta Enogen Feed Corn silage containing an alpha amylase expression trait improves feed efficiency in growing calf diets. Cattlemen's Day, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports. New Prairie Press, Kansas State University. 6(2):31-34.
  11. Baker, A., V. de Aguiar, and L. Barros. 2019. Feedlot performance and carcass characteristics of steers fed diets containing steam-flaked grain and corn silage from Enogen® Feed Corn. Journal of Animal Science. 97 (Supplement 2):137-137.
  12. Volk, S.M., H.C. Wilson, K.J. Hanford, J.C. MacDonald, and G.E. Erickson. 2021. Impact of Feeding Syngenta Enogen® Feed Corn Compared to Control Corn in Different Diet Scenarios to Finishing Beef Cattle. Animals 11(10).

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