• Basic Information
• Additional Info

Basic Information

• Project No. and Title: NCCC206 : Nutrition and Management of Feedlot Cattle to Optimize Performance, Carcass Value and Environmental Compatibility (NCT192)
• Period Covered: 05/01/2007 to 05/01/2008
• Date of Report: 06/27/2008
• Annual Meeting Dates: 05/21/2008 to 05/23/2008

Participants

Alfredo DiCostanzo, Greg Lardy, Dan Loy, Terry Mader, Chris Reinhardt, Chris Richards, Steven Rust, Dan Schaefer, and John Wagner. Guests: Britt Hicks, Dan Shike (representing University of Illinois in place of Larry Berger), and Clint Krehbiel

Accomplishments

Impacts

1. Insulation value of hair coats that have become wet loose their insulation value, thereby altering calves lower critical temperature.
2. In situations where high sulfates exist in drinking water, altering dietary cation-anion balance does not alleviate reduced performance.
3. Production of all natural finished cattle requires substantial ($98.50/hd, estimated at current prices) premiums to be competitive with traditional systems. This increases with increased feed cost.
4. Diets containing distillers grains and hay with no corn grain can be fed to finish cattle, but gains and efficiencies are reduced.
5. Feeding stored wet distillers grains to finishing cattle results in more efficient and rapid weight gains than fresh wet distillers gains when fed with soybean hulls, corn silage and supplement.
6. Economic analysis of calf-fed vs. long yearling production results in yearlings profitability increasing $4-6 with each $1/bu increase in corn price.
7. Flax seed can replace up to 8 percent of the corn and linseed meal in growing and finishing diets without affecting performance.
8. Rapidly backgrounding calves has no impact on future feedlot performance, carcass characteristics or consumer acceptability.
9. Feeding low vitamin A diets does not impede growth or improve carcass characteristics.
10. Feeding a medium concentrate diet for 28 days increases growth efficiency and decreases morbidity compared to immediately adapting calves to a finishing diet.
11. Calves subjected to bovine respiratory disease challenges have increased removal amino acids from the blood by the liver to support an acute phase protein response.
12. Feeding high-tannin sorghum results in increased rate of discoloration and TBARS accumulation in meat aerobically displayed.

Publications