Performance of growing cattle grazing moderate quality legume - grass temperate pastures when offered varying forage allowance with or without grain supplementation

Abstract

This research evaluated the effect of supplementation with cracked corn grain (0 or 1% of liveweight) on the performance of Hereford steers grazing a mixed pasture of legume and grass at 3 forage allowances (3, 6 or 9 kg DM/100 kg liveweight). The experiments were conducted in West Uruguay over 2 consecutive summers, with 72 Hereford steers (282 ± 15.3 kg; n = 36/year) randomly allocated to 1 of the 6 treatments in a factorial arrangement. Cattle were supplemented in individual pens and weighed every 14 days. Grain intake did not differ (P>0.05) between forage allowances. Both supplementing and increasing forage allowance reduced (P<0.01) forage utilisation. Year effect was significant (P<0.01) for liveweight gain and grain intake, but neither the 2- nor the 3-way interaction of year with forage allowance or supplementation was significant (P>0.05). Increasing forage allowance only improved (P<0.01) liveweight gain of non-supplemented cattle (0.299, 0.483, 0.667 kg/day for forage allowance of 3, 6 or 9%, respectively). Hence, response to supplementation decreased with forage allowance, increasing the grain (kg)/gain (kg) conversion ratio. These results provide a quantitative basis on which to decide upon the best feeding management option for summer.

Corn oil supplementation to steers grazing endophyte-free tall fescue. I. Effects on in vivo digestibility, performance, and carcass traits

“…According to our results with nonlimiting forage availability, oil-supplemented steers consumed less forage and produced heavier carcasses than unsupplemented steers. Supplement conversion improved when forage substitution rates were reduced by lower forage availability (Beretta et al, 2006). In our study, oil conversion was within the range (0.12 to 0.77) observed for fiberand starch-rich supplements when offered to grazing beef cattle (Grigsby et al, 1991;Horn et al, 1995;Bodine et al, 2001).…”

Animal performance, carcass characteristics and beef fatty acid profile of grazing steers supplemented with corn grain and increasing amounts of flaxseed at two animal weights during finishing

“…These variables would affect forage by supplement substitution rates (Beretta et al, 2006); digestion associative effects between forage and supplement (Doyle et al, 2005) and grazing time (Bargo et al, 2003). In the present study, the lack of supplementation effect on forage intake suggests that no forage by supplement substitution existed, and the lack of dietary effects on in vivo NDF digestibility suggests that supplementation did not have a negative or a positive effect on forage fiber digestion.…”

Effect of growth path on the performance and carcass traits of Hereford steers finished either on pasture or in feedlot

“…Despite the good quality of these pastures, their growth rate might be limited by environmental conditions due to low temperatures and a short photoperiod (Cozzolino et al 1994). There are several alternatives and strategies to overcome scarce forage production (Risso et al 1991;Vaz Martins et al 2005;Beretta et al 2006). However, most of the research has been focussed on finishing systems, without considering the effects of winter nutrition during rearing on subsequent finishing performance.…”