PKE nutritional facts

Palm Kernel Expeller is a high quality by-product produced from the mechanical extraction of oil from the fruit of the Oil Palm.

It is a natural high quality stock feed containing 8% - 11% Oil, 16% - 18% Crude Protein and 10.5-12.5 MJ ME/kg DM (energy) and a safe stock feed for most classes of livestock, due to low levels of starch and sugar. Animals can be easily conditioned to the product over about 2-3 days, then fed free access (ad-lib).

Advantages of PKE

• Safe, non-acid producing foodstuff (low levels of starch and sugar)
• Excellent source of oil and rumen fermentable fibre which usually improves fat test
• Although high in Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) and Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) it does not substitute for grass intake (i.e. increases total DM intake)
• Good source of minerals especially phosphorus, copper, zinc and manganese

PKE frequently results in higher milk fat test and improved body condition, without affecting milk yield or protein percentages. Excellent free choice vehicle for calcium, trace elements and ionophores for grazing stock.

Nutritional specifications

• Dry matter - Typically 90% DM.
• Crude Protein - Typically in the range of 16-18% so is a medium level protein feed. In comparison to leafy pasture the protein in PKE is slower to be digested, 60% rumen degradable and only 13% soluble, thus complementing quality pasture.
• Energy - At 10.5-12.5 MJ/kg DM PKE is comparable to energy in cereal grains. However with very little starch (3%) or sugar (4%) PKE is ideally suited to be fed in conjunction with a starch or sugar source like cereal grain or maize silage or molasses.
• Fibre - Laboratory tests show that PKE has a high fibre content testing 60-65% NDF. What many of the laboratory tests do not describe, however, is that a large portion of the fibre in PKE is highly digestible (60% of NDF is digested in 30 hours). Unlike many feeds with high NDF values the fibre component of PKE does not take up a lot of rumen space and contributes considerably to the energy content.
• Oil - Being mechanically extracted, PKE contains higher oil (8-10%) content than many of the solvent extracted oilseed meals. Palm Oil is a saturated fat that is largely rumen stable, and does not interfere with rumen function. Palm oil is used to manufacture many of the high value bypass fats fed to cows to improve condition score and fertility. This is a considerable source of energy for the cow.
• Minerals - Calcium 0.45% (average), Phosphorus 0.6% (good), Magnesium 0.3% (adequate) Sulphur 0.2% (low). NB very low in salt, Sodium 0.009%. Copper 24ppm (high) from field liver testing this seems to be relatively available. Zinc 42ppm (average), Manganese 224ppm (high), Molybdenum 0.3ppm (average), Cobalt nil (very low).
• Starch - PKE contains virtually no starch and as such is an ideal feed when energy intake is inadequate but grain or maize feeding is at its limit, or when protein is lacking.

Young replacement stock (post weaning) perform especially well when fed PKE. It is also suitable to feed to dry cows, beef cattle, lambs and sheep.

At low levels, litres and protein percentages are generally unaffected, however, once feeding rates reach 2.0 kgs/cow/day, there is a significant lift in fat percentage.

How do I store PKE on the farm?

PKE is delivered on farm in bulk truck/truck & trailer loads, (either 10/t, 20/t or 30/t approx). As with any grain or meal, PKE needs to be kept dry, as moisture combined with heat, can cause fungi to grow.

Common on farm storage methods are; in a shed or unused fertilizer bin, in a covered pit or on a concrete pad or in a cutting, covered with plastic sheet and tyres, (be sure there is sufficient run off with no pooling of water under the PKE stack). Most farmers order PKE as they need it and therefore use it quite quickly, (say within 40-50 days).

The longer you plan to store PKE the better your storage facilities need to be. Being very fine, PKE is not suitable for shed silos unless mixed with other products to allow it to run. Do not feed hot or mouldy PKE.

Feeding

Start with only 0.5 kg per cow per day to accustom them to the smell and taste. PKE is best mixed with other feeds, at least initially e.g. any silages and/or molasses, but it can be fed on its own. Once cows are accustomed, you can increase by 0.5 kg/cow/day to the required rate.

PKE in troughs or meal feeders, especially if other minerals are added, can make a very dusty dry feed. Cows tend to inhale dirty particles when they eat because of the position of mouth and nostrils and this can put some off the feed. It is best to use nuts in this instance, especially in in-shed feeders.

PKE can be fed on the ground and the wastage is usually less than for maize silage. The cows can lick the meal up more easily where as the maize grain tends to be pushed into the ground. However it is preferable to feed in troughs like molasses e.g. cut off 200L drums at the dairy, if you cannot mix it with other feeds or do not have a feed pad. Alternatively, temporary feed troughs can be used.

Normally the feeding rate is 2 - 3 kgs, but much higher levels can be fed if necessary - get good advice.

PKE can be fed to young stock:

• Mix with calf meal once calves are at least 5 weeks old. The calves need proper grain based starchy meals initially, to properly develop rumen function.
• The feed can be a 50/50 mix at 10 - 12 weeks, then completely PKE.
• PKE is great for yearlings and in-calf heifers when pasture is short - they should also have some long fibre such as hay or straw at least.

Recommendations for the trucking requirements at storage facilities for PKE:

The turnaround room required for a truck and trailer unit (30t load approx.) is a minimum of 25m, the more room allowed the better, as some vehicles do take more room to turnaround than others. Also, take into account that the trailer will always track in when turning so the inside area needs to accommodate for this as well.

• The overall length of the truck and trailer is 18.9m so the bunker needs to be a minimum of 15m in length to accommodate a full load of 55-70 m³.
• The width of a truck or trailer is 2.5m. But a bunker would need to be at least 5m wide.
• The height of the trailer when it is at maximum tipping height is 7.65m.
• The height of the truck when it is at maximum tipping height is 5.77m.

Units can carry up to 55m water level and some units are 70m water level so if the product was heaped up depending on its weight a few more metres could be carried.

When deciding on where to locate your storage facility, it will need to be in such a position that a truck and trailer will have plenty of room in which to position the unit to reverse into the bunker, an ideal situation is having at least enough room to get the truckand trailer straight before starting to reverse.