Bionaz Lab

Our long-term goal is to implement the safe use of hemp byproducts in livestock diets and take full advantage of their nutritional and potential medicinal properties to improve animal health and the quality of animal products. The objective of the present proposal is to generate fundamental data for the legalization of spent hemp biomass to be used to feed livestock and creating an Extension program to connect producers with the hemp industry. The determination of cannabinoids residuals in milk and meat are essential to obtain FDA approval for use of hemp byproducts in ruminant diets. 

We plan to accomplish our overall objective by pursuing the following Specific Aims:

Specific Aim 1: Determine the residuals of cannabinoids in milk, muscle, and adipose tissue and the effects on health and production in dairy cows fed a ration containing extracted hemp biomass. We will replace alfalfa with extracted hemp biomass in the ration of mid-lactation dairy cows. We will evaluate the effects on animal health, milk yield and composition, and the levels of THC and CBD residuals in milk, adipose tissue, and muscle.

Specific Aim 2: Develop and implement an Extension program to educate livestock producers, general consumers, and policy makers about the feeding potential of hemp biomass byproducts to livestock. We will leverage support from the Oregon Beef Council, Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, the OSU Global Hemp Innovation Center (GHIC), and our OSU Extension Service to develop programs (1) to evaluate producers’ attitude toward and interest in feeding hemp byproducts to livestock; (2) to educate livestock producers about feeding hemp byproducts to livestock; (3) to evaluate consumer acceptability of products derived from animals fed hemp byproducts; and (4) to engage with and educate policy makers about findings of the proposed study (Research and Extension).

Publications

Irawan A, Puerto-Hernandez GM, Ford HR, Busato S, Ates S, Cruickshank J, Ranches J, Estill CT, Trevisi E, Bionaz M. Feeding spent hemp biomass to lactating dairy cows: Effects on performance, milk components and quality, blood parameters, and nitrogen metabolism. J Dairy Sci. 2024 Jan;107(1):258-277. doi: 10.3168/jds.2023-23829. Epub 2023 Sep 9. PMID: 37690708.

Irawan, A.; Bionaz, M. Liver Transcriptomic Profiles of Ruminant Species Fed Spent Hemp Biomass Containing Cannabinoids. Genes 2024, 15, 963. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15070963

Abstracts

• Nosal D., Bionaz M. Muchiri R. Van Breemen R.B. 2021. Analysis of Cannabinoids in Milk from Cows Consuming Spent Hemp using Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry. ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics.

• Irawan A., Estill C.T., and Bionaz M., Liver transcriptomic profile of lactating dairy cows fed spent hemp biomass. 2024. ADSA Annual Meeting, June 16-19, Palm Beach, Florida, J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 107, Suppl. 1

• Irawan A., Estill C.T., Ates S., and Bionaz M., Feeding spent hemp biomass does not affect rumen fermentation and inflammatory cytokines in lactating dairy cows. 2024. ADSA Annual Meeting, June 16-19, Palm Beach, Florida, J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 107, Suppl. 1

• Irawan A., Nosal D.G., Muchiri R.N., Parker N.B., van Breemen R. B., Ates S., Bionaz M. Cannabinoids residual and clearance in ruminants fed spent hemp biomass: the implications on the risks and food safety for consumers. Pacific Northwest Animal Nutrition Conference, January 15-16, 2024, Boise, Idaho

• Irawan A., Bionaz M. Recent updates of the use of industrial hemp byproducts in ruminants: nutritional profile, animal response, potential constraints, and future research directions. 2023 Cannabis Research Conference, Denver, CO, August 3-5, 2023