Beefsteak from Wood

Our food, ranging from breakfast cereal to McDonald's hamburgers, comes to us packaged in paper--a product of the forest. Is it possible that the wood from which paper is made has a more important role to play in feeding Alaskans and others? Research conducted mainly in Canada in the past ten years and a growing understanding of Russian technology shows that various parts of the tree have significant potential as vitamin supplements and major energy sources in livestock feed.

In Russia, a livestock feed supplement called "muka" is made from needles, leaves, twigs and branches less than one-fourth inch in diameter. This material when dried and finely ground has been included in the feed of chickens, dairy and beef cattle and pigs in quantities of five to ten per cent of the rations. Livestock productivity is reported to be improved when feed includes these materials.

Even more promising are reports by Canadian wood products scientists that aspen chips cooked at 160 to 170°C and pressures of 100 to 115 psi for one to two hours become a source of energy for livestock. This energy comes from cellulose which makes up to 80% of the wood and is similar to starch which is an important component of our diet. Cellulose is generally not available to livestock because it forms a chemical and physical complex with lignin which is not digestible.

After cooking, this material has been combined with barley or corn and feed to sheep and beef cattle. The results of these trials indicate that animals perform as well on these feeds as they do on more traditional rations. It is believed that at least 30 to 50 percent of the feed can be aspen chips.

These findings suggest that as Alaska develops its agricultural potential, it is not far-fetched to think of Alaska's future farms as growing both barley and aspen or other woody plants for cattle feed.