Intake, growth rate and carcass quality of beef cattle fed forage mixtures of grass silage and maize silage

2000 ◽  
Vol 2000 ◽  
pp. 72-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.M. Browne ◽  
M.J. Bryant ◽  
D.E. Beever ◽  
A.V. Fisher

Replacing grass silage with maize silage in the diets of finishing beef cattle can improve DM intake and performance even when starch content of the maize silage is low (McCabe, O'Mara and Caffery, 1995). The objective of this experiment was to investigate the response of beef cattle fed diets containing different proportions of maize silage and grass silage with the same level of concentrate supplementation.

2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 ◽  
pp. 10-10
Author(s):  
R.M. Kirkland ◽  
D.C. Patterson

A preliminary study at this Institute indicated that inclusion of high quality maize silage in a grass silage-based diet could promote higher forage intakes in beef cattle, but the response to inclusion of maize silage was affected by the quality of grass silage. The objective of this study was to further examine the effects of grass (GS) and maize (MS) silage qualities on intake characteristics, and to evaluate the influence of forage offered on animal performance.


2002 ◽  
Vol 2002 ◽  
pp. 115-115
Author(s):  
R.M. Kirkland ◽  
R.W.J. Steen ◽  
F.J. Gordon ◽  
T.W.J. Keady

The inclusion of maize silage in grass silage based diets may offer the potential to improve productivity on farms due to associative effects resulting from mixed-forage diets on nutrient supply to the animal. The objective of the present study was to examine the effects on dry matter (DM) and metabolisable energy (ME) intakes of beef cattle of offering forage mixtures comprising grass and maize silages of differing qualities.


1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 ◽  
pp. 83-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.M. Browne ◽  
M.J. Bryant ◽  
D.E. Beever

Crop maturity at harvest affects the intake potential of maize silage. A short feeding trial with young beef heifers (Browne, Bryant, Beever and Thorp, 1998) identified a significant depression in intake when low DM silage was fed, yet no significant effect on live weight gain was recorded. The objective of this experiment was to determine if these results were repeated in a longer intake study using finishing beef cattle and to examine the effect of maize maturity on carcass quality.Forage maize was harvested at three stages of maturity (LOW, MED and HIGH) during September 1997. At each stage of maturity, the crop was cut and ensiled in a separate AgBag during one day, without the use of an additive. The respective silage DM concentrations were 297, 339 and 393 g/kgFWt.


1993 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. J. Steen

AbstractTwo randomized-block experiments were carried out to examine the relative value of wheat and barley as supplements to grass silage for finishing beef cattle. In each experiment unwilted, formic acid-treated silage was offered ad libitum and supplemented with 500 g soya-bean meal and 50 g minerals and vitamins to 44 12-month-old bulls for 157 and 172 days in experiments 1 and 2 respectively. Twelve of the animals also received 2·5 kg rolled spring barley (LB), 12 received 4·0 kg barley (HB) and 20 received 3·25 kg rolled wheat (W). For experiments 1 and 2 respectively the barley contained 796 and 787 g dry matter (DM) per kg; 118 and 105 g crude protein (CP) per kg DM; 47 and 57 g crude fibre per kg DM; the wheat contained 845 and 800 g DM per kg; 112 and 116 g CP per kg DM; 23 and 25 g crude fibre per kg DM; and the silages contained 190 and 177 g DM per kg; 153 and 176 g CP per kg DM; 80 and 104 g ammonia-nitrogen per kg total nitrogen. On average over the two experiments, for treatments LB, HB and W respectively, silage DM intakes were 5·4, 4·7 (s.e. 0·14) and 4·9 (s.e. 0·11) kg/day; total DM intakes 7·9, 8·3 (s.e. 0·14) and 8·1 (s.e. 0·11) kg/day; metabolizable energy intakes 91·4, 97·8 and 94·2 MJ/day; live-weight gains 1·04,1·19 (s.e. 0·029) and 1·10 (s.e. 0·023) kg/day and carcass gams 0·65, 0·77 (s.e. 0·017) and 0·70 (s.e. 0·013) kg/day. It is concluded that the feeding value of wheat was proportionately 0·98 of that of barley for finishing beef cattle when given as a supplement to grass silage, and that the type of cereal offered did not affect silage intake or carcass composition.


1998 ◽  
Vol 1998 ◽  
pp. 148-148
Author(s):  
E.M. Browne ◽  
M.J. Bryant ◽  
D.E. Beever ◽  
C.L. Thorp

Dry matter (DM) concentration of maize silage is directly related to maturity of the crop at harvest and widely reported to be positively correlated with total forage DM intake. The objective of this experiment was to investigate these effects using a late maturing beef genotype and a contemporary forage maize variety.Forage maize (variety Hudson) was harvested at four different stages of maturity during September and October 1996. Each stage of maturity was ensiled in a separate clamp with no additive. Resultant silage corrected dry matter contents were 247 (L), 305 (M/L), 331(M/H) and 388 (H)g/kgFW, respectively. Each diet was formulated to be isonitrogenous with fishmeal fed twice daily on top of the silage. Silage was offered ad libitum to 32 growing Simmental X Friesian heifers (mean initial weight 217kg), housed in individual pens in an open-sided Dutch barn and bedded on wheat straw. Eight animals were allocated to each treatment, in a completely randomised design with pre-treatment intake (non-experimental maize silage) used as a covariate in the statistical analysis.


1998 ◽  
Vol 1998 ◽  
pp. 74-74
Author(s):  
D G Chapple ◽  
H F Grundy ◽  
K P A Wheeler ◽  
S P Marsh

There is increasing consumer resistance to feeding antibiotic performance enhancers to beef cattle which has created interest in the use of yeast cultures as an alternative. Yeast cultures such as Diamond V ‘XP’ (Rumenco) are produced by growing selected yeast strains (on a semi-solid medium under stressed conditions) which are then dried. Yeast cultures are now used in a considerable number of North American beef feed lots. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of feeding ‘XP’ Yeast to finishing beef cattle on a typical UK grass silage-based diet.


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joao M. B. Vendramini ◽  
Philipe Moriel

Proper grazing management is the most effective practice to provide adequate forage quantity and quality to cow–calf systems, and optimise beef-calf performance in tropical and subtropical regions. Supplementation of beef calves is not a commonly used management practice in beef-cattle production, primarily because calves can benefit from the cow’s milk production to offset some limitations in forage quantity and quality. Creep-feeding and supplementation of early weaned calves are the two main strategies to supplement beef calves. Creep-feeding can be used to overcome limited herbage allowance, improve calves uniformity, supply extra nutrients for calves, provide adaptation to concentrate diets before weaning, and increase weaning weight. Early weaning is an effective management practice to increase the likelihood of re-breeding of first-calf beef heifers in the south-eastern USA; however, it was observed that concentrate supplementation is necessary for early weaned calves to achieve desirable levels of gain on pasture in tropical and subtropical regions. In addition, concentrate supplementation during early stages of a calf life may permanently change calf development and performance in a process called ‘metabolic imprinting’. The metabolic imprinting concept in production agriculture is in the early stages of knowledge and further research should elucidate the benefits of this management practice in beef-cattle production.


2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (suppl_4) ◽  
pp. 295-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Kelly ◽  
A. P. Moloney ◽  
A. K. Kelly ◽  
M. McGee

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