Soil contamination
If the cleaning of the beet roots is not well done, there may remain soil which subsequently reduces organic matter and increases the ash content of the beet pulp (CNC, 2012).
Bacterial contamination
Though the microbiological quality of pressed and wet pulp may be of concern, it has been reported that dried and pelleted beet pulp have a very low level of microbial contamination, and are thus considered safe feed (Kowalska et al., 2013).
Additives
Chemicals can be added to the sugarbeet pulp during two steps of processing:
during diffusion, it may be useful to add antiseptic solution in order to prevent further microorganism development. At high level, the antiseptic may hinder silage process.
during pressing of the beet pulp, calcium sulfate or aluminium sulfate adjuvants are required to rigidify the beet pulp cell wall and increase pressing yield, but they can result in a S content too high for ruminants. S excess may have deleterious effects on animals. It results in loss of appetite, digestive troubles, reduced growth performance and it also causes secondary deficiencies in P, Zn, Cu, Se, and vitamin B1.
In order to prevent sulfate toxicity, the inclusion of H2SO4 should be limited to 1300 g/t beet roots. When aluminium sulfate is used for beet pulp pressing, farmers should increase P supplementation in the diet. It is thus important for them to be properly informed by the sugar factory (Legrand, 2015; CNC, 2012).
Milk fever
In high producing dairy cows the demand for blood calcium in the early stages of lactation is very high, and can result in a condition called milk fever that may be lethal for the cows. A way to alleviate milk fever is to avoid calcium rich feeds during late gestation when the cows are dry, as the negative calcium balance results in a minor decline in blood calcium concentrations when lactation begins. For this reason, it has been recommended to avoid sugar beet pulp of any form during this period (Allen, 2016).