Investigation of the Impact of Mineral Status and Use of an Injectable Mineral on Beef Cattle Performance

Adequate trace mineral status of feedlot cattle decreases losses during shipping and improves marbling score (MS). Utilizing an injectable trace mineral, at the start of the finishing period, improved average daily gain (ADG), body weight (BW) and hot carcass weight (HCW). Trace mineral supplementation is important to beef cattle performance, and improves response to stress. Injectable minerals improve recovery after a stressful event, and enhance performance

Influence of Feed Efficiency Ranking on Diet Digestibility and Performance of Beef Steers

The current study evaluated diet digestibility and finishing phase growth performance in steers previously evaluated for feed efficiency during the growing phase. Based on growing phase feed efficiency, steers were classified as highly or lowly feed efficient. During the finishing phase, the highly feed efficient steers remained more feed efficient. Steers were fed either corn or roughage-based diets during the growing phase and then transitioned to either corn or byproduct-based diets during the finishing phase. Dry matter digestibility was strongly positively correlated in steers grown/finished on corn or grown/finished on high fiber diets (roughage, byproduct). Conversely, there was a strong negative correlation in G:F between feeding phases when steers were roughage-grown and corn-finished. Overall, the study reinforced the idea that diet digestibility differences may contribute to feed efficiency variability and that cattle should be feed efficiency tested on diets similar to the production environment of interest

The Effect of Varying Concentrations of Vitamin C on Performance, Blood Metabolites, and Carcass Characteristics of Steers Consuming a Common High Sulfur Diet

The data support the conclusion that supplementing a rumen-protected vitamin C (VC) source to yearling feedlot steers consuming a high sulfur (S; 0.55%) diet tends to increase feed efficiency and ribeye area (REA), while minimal effects were noted on blood metabolites or marbling score

Effect of Delaying the Feeding of High Sulfur until After Adaptation to a Finishing Diet

Sulfur (S) intake does not appear to be the only factor contributing to the likelihood of S-induced polioencephalomalacia (PEM). Cattle appear to be more susceptible during the early part of the finishing period. In this study, increasing S inclusion after the first 30 d of finishing resulted in lower peak hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations compared with feeding the same level of S earlier in the finishing period. Therefore, waiting to include high levels of ethanol co-products until after the first 30 d of finishing may decrease the likelihood of S toxicity

The Effect of Trace Mineral Source and Concentration on Mineral Solubility in the Rumen and Diet Digestibility

Supplementing the trace minerals copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) in the metal hydroxyl form does not impact dry matter (DM) digestibility, while sulfatebound trace minerals decreased DM digestibility. Metal hydroxy trace minerals solubilize in the pH found in the abomasum, enabling absorption, suggesting that these minerals solubilize only in the abomasum and will not inhibit digestion. Trace minerals present in the basal diet prior to supplementation appear to be adequate for proper function of rumen microbes

Effect of Vitamin C on Performance and Antioxidant Capacity of Cattle Fed Varying Concentrations of Dietary Sulfur

Limited research is available concerning the effects of feeding supplemental vitamin C (VC) to feedlot cattle. This study concluded that supplementation of VC to cattle receiving a high S diet improved the marbling scores of these steers, which may be related to the greater plasma VC measured in these cattle

Vision and Objectives

The purpose of Industry Day is to exchange information with industry to increase understanding of the Government's current vision and objectives for the xEVA Production and Services Contract. The presentation provides industry with the opportunity to provide input into the xEVAPS procurement strategy and encourage offerors to submit questions and comments. A technical overview of the xEVA System serves as the foundation for the content related to draft requirements in the SOW

Evaluation of Sorghum Silage as an Alternative Forage in Growing and Finishing Diets on Steer Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Nutrient Digestibility

Overall trial performance indicates that sorghum silage-fed steers consume less feed but maintain similar growth and carcass composition when compared to steers fed grass hay. Similar performance by steers despite additional post-extraction sorghum silage partially replacing cracked corn, the primary energy source in the diet, suggests the feeding value of sorghum silage is equivalent to or better than the average quality hay used in this study. Further research is needed to quantify the energy/feeding value of this post-ethanol extraction sorghum silage in growing and finishing feedlot diets

Effects of Dietary Sulfur Source on Rumen pH and Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Concentration

The objective of this experiment was to compare the effects of 5 commonly used sulfur (S) sources in research trials: dry distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), condensed distillers solubles (CCDS), sulfuric acid, sodium sulfate, and calcium sulfate, on ruminal pH and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations. While diet and ruminal pH did differ among the treatments, there was no difference among S sources in ruminal H2S concentrations measured 6 hours post-feeding. These data suggest that there is no difference in the potential for S toxicity among the different S sources used in this study

Determining the Influence of Dietary Roughage Concentration and Source on Rumen Parameters related to Sulfur Toxicity

Producers are looking for a way to prevent the negative effects associated with feeding large amounts of ethanol co-products that are high in sulfur (S). High levels of S in the diet result in increased ruminal concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Elevated levels of ruminal H2S have been correlated to increased incidences of the neurological disorder polioencephalomalcia. The results of these studies suggest that when balanced for NDF levels, chopped cornstalks and chopped bromegrass grass hay did not differ in their effects on rumen H2S concentrations and ruminal pH, and that increasing inclusion of roughage resulted in increased ruminal pH and decreased ruminal H2S. Although increasing roughage levels in the diet results in reduced energy density of the diet, steers in this study increased intake to compensate and thus gains were not affected. Increasing hay inclusion in the diet from 5% to 12% (DM basis) decreased H2S concentrations by approximately 2,000 ppm, and thus appears to be a practical way to increase inclusion of high S ingredients such as ethanol co-products while reducing the risk of S toxicity