Effect of housing, initial weight and season on feedlot performance of steers in Iowa

Feedlot information, submitted by Iowa cattle producers to the Iowa State University Feedlot Performance and Cost Monitoring Program, was examined to determine the effects of housing, initial weight and season interactions on beef steer performance. Feedlot information, consisting of 1225 pens of steers, contained information including starting and ending dates, cattle per pen, sex, housing type, days on feed, initial and sale weights, feed efficiency, proportion of concentrate in diets, average daily gain (ADG) and certain economic variables. Starting date on feed was assigned to seasons and, since the steers were fed an average for 160 days, an overlapping of seasons occurred. Thus, cattle started in feedlots in spring, autumn, summer and winter were finished in summer, spring, autumn and spring, respectively. Cattle started in spring, autumn, summer and winter were exposed to hot, cold and warm portions of the year, respectively, and were classified as hot, cold and warm season cattle. Cattle housed in open lots with overhead shelter had higher ADG than those housed in confinement and in open lots in the warm season. In general, cattle in confinement had lower daily dry matter intake (DDMI) than those housed in open lots and open lots with overhead shelter, regardless of season. Light cattle had higher ADG in the hot season, whereas, heavy cattle had higher ADG in the cold season. Heavy cattle housed in confinement had lower ADG than those housed in open lots with overhead shelter and in open lots. Heavy cattle were less efficient than light and intermediate weight cattle regardless of housing system. These results indicate that the time of year cattle are started on feed and selection of cattle with starting weights most adaptable to the housing system provided, may contribute to improved production efficiency. South African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 35(4) 2005: 282-29

Cultural energy analyses of climatologically suitable places in Turkey for feedlot cattle production determined by using the comprehensive climate index model

Citation: Koknaroglu, H., Harrington, J. A., & Mader, T. L. (2016). Cultural energy analyses of climatologically suitable places in Turkey for feedlot cattle production determined by using the comprehensive climate index model. Journal of Animal Science, 94, 26-26. doi:10.2527/msasas2016-057The objective of this study was to conduct cultural energy analyses on feedlot cattle production in Turkey. The comprehensive climate index (CCI) model was used to predict DMI, ADG, and feed efficiency of feedlot cattle in 15 locations in Turkey. The CCI enables one to quantify beef cattle performance for a number of breeds based on environmental conditions (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation) at any time in the year. Because mostly dairy breed calves are placed into the feedlot in Turkey, the Holstein (dairy breed) option in the CCI was chosen to calculate the maintenance energy requirement. Based on previous feedlot feeding studies conducted in Turkey, it was assumed that calves would be placed on feed at 250 kg and be marketed at 520 kg and that the diet would have 2600 kcal/kg metabolic energy and would have DMI of 2.31% of the BW. It was assumed that cattle would receive 2 kg/d straw and that the concentrate mixture would consist of 52.65% barley, 26% corn, 19% cotton seed meal, 1.5% limestone, 0.25% vitamins, 0.5% salt, and 0.1% minerals. Cultural energy inputs were calculated by multiplying the amount of inputs and their corresponding cultural energy based on values from existing literature. Cultural energy used for feed was derived from DMI of cattle and corresponding values for each feed ingredient. Transportation energy was also included in the analysis, including costs for shipping calves from animal market to the farm, shipping yearlings to slaughterhouse, and shipping feed ingredients to the farm. Cultural energy expended for feed made up more than half of the total cultural energy and differed among cities (P < 0.05). Cultural energy for feed was highest for the coldest places and lowest for hot locations. Cultural energy of transportation constituted the second highest cultural energy expenditure. Cultural energy expended per kilogram live weight gain (defined as total cultural energy expended divided by kg live weight gain) was highest for the coldest location and lowest for relatively hotter cities (P < 0.05). Cultural energy use efficiency (defined by kcal input/kcal output) followed the feed efficiency ranking with cattle having better feed efficiency also have better cultural energy use efficiency. Results showed that cattle having higher ADG did not mean that they would also have better cultural energy use efficiency

Determination of climatologically suitable places in the Midwest for feedlot cattle production by using the comprehensive climate index model

Citation: Koknaroglu, H., Harrington, J. A., & Mader, T. L. (2016). Determination of climatologically suitable places in the Midwest for feedlot cattle production by using the comprehensive climate index model. Journal of Animal Science, 94, 28-29. doi:10.2527/msasas2016-062The objective of this study was to determine climatologically suitable places to raise feedlot cattle in the Midwest. Hourly average temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed values for 22 locations (Des Moines, Mason City, Sioux City, Waterloo, Concordia, Dodge City, Goodland, Russell, Topeka, Wichita, Columbia, Kansas City, KCI, Springfield, St. Louis, Grand Island, Lincoln, Norfolk, North Platte, Omaha, Scottsbluff, and Valentine), spanning the last 10 yr, were obtained. Daily solar radiation values could not be obtained from the weather stations and were calculated based on a formula that takes hemisphere, latitude, and day of the year into account. The comprehensive climate index (CCI) model was used to predict DMI, ADG, and feed efficiency of feedlot cattle. The CCI enables one to quantify beef cattle performance for a number of breeds based on environmental conditions (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation) at any time in the year. Because mostly beef cattle breed calves are placed into the feedlot in the Midwest, the British (beef breed) option in CCI was chosen to calculate the maintenance energy requirement of cattle. It was assumed that calves would be placed on feed at 340 kg and be marketed at 613 kg and that diets would have 3200 kcal/kg metabolic energy and would have DMI of 2.10% of the BW. Results comparing the 22 locations showed that Mason City had the highest and Columbia had the lowest DMI (P < 0.05). Cattle raised in Kansas and Missouri had lower DMI than those raised in Iowa and Nebraska. Cattle had ADG ranging from 1.74 to 1.69 kg/d; Scottsbluff and Goodland had the highest ADG and Columbia had the lowest ADG (P < 0.05). As it is observed in DMI, cattle raised in south latitudes had lower ADG than those raised in northern latitudes. Springfield and Wichita had better feed efficiency than other locations, and Mason City had the worst feed efficiency. Cattle raised in Kansas and Missouri had better feed efficiency than those raised in Iowa and Nebraska (P < 0.05). Results showed that there are differences in terms of performance of cattle raised in different locations in the Midwest and this should be taken into consideration for economical beef production

Integration of Pasturing Systems for Cattle Finishing Programs—A Progress Report

This progress report is an introduction to a study to evaluate the incorporation of rotational pasturing systems into cattle finishing programs. Because the first year is still in progress and the first trial is not complete, few data are available. However, there is a suggestion that feeding an ionophore to young calves on pasture may result in improved daily gains

Integration of Pasturing Systems for Cattle Finishing Programs—A Progress Report

This progress report is an introduction to a study to evaluate the incorporation of rotational pasturing systems into cattle finishing programs. Because the first year is still in progress and the first trial is not complete, few data are available. However, there is a suggestion that feeding an ionophore to young calves on pasture may result in improved daily gains.</p