These trials were to compare the effect of different sources and levels of supplemental protein on the winter and subsequent summer gains of beef calves grazing native range at the Fort Robinson Beef Cattle Research Station, Crawford, Nebraska

Gregory, K. E.

Ingalls, J. E.

Koch, R. M.

Rowden, W. W.

English

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Historical Circulars of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station Extension 8-1961 Protein Supplements for Beef Calves on Winter Range W. W. Rowden J. E. Ingalls K. E. Gregory R. M. Koch Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/hcnaes  Part of the Agricultural Economics Commons, and the Beef Science Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Extension at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Historical Circulars of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I .. SC 108 Protein Supplements for Beef Calves on Winter Range University of Nebraska CoUege of AgricultureThe Agricultural Experiment Station E. F. Frolik, Dean; A. W. Epp, Acting Director FOREWORD Large numbers of l ef alv s are wint red n native · rang in bra ka and o her Great Plain tat . l\Ian of th e calv th n are graz d n nativ range during the umm r nd ol l a f ler . in the f 11. In n r l, wint r rang ti rou } ut thi · ar a i low in protein and pho phor u ·. Ran h r ar inter L d in he sup p 1 m nt that will ive th , mo st ero nomi al total gai n (winter and ·ummer). The ·· trial. wer e to mpar th · effe of diff rent ou re · and ] v 1 [ uppl mental p rot i1 on the wint r a nd sub equ ent su ,m er gain of beef calv grazing nati range at th e Fort Roi in o n Beef attle ear h tati n, raw[ rd, N •br a. ka:CONTENTS F r word Pa ge 2 um.mar and on lu i n .. .. . . ...... ...... ............... ......... . ... . .. .. .. .. . 3 Th Trial 4up 1 mental Prot in .............................................. ...... . 4ls of uppl m ntal Prot i ... .................................. . ables ......... .............................. ··············••····························· .. . . 7 J · L 19Gl , 3,000 h ov I pi tur is f te er calveon winter rang at F ort Robinsonn . -PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS FOR BEEF CALVES ON WINTER ANGE W.W. Rowden, J.E. Ingall, K. E. Gregory and R. M. Koch 1 Summary and Conclusions 1. The protein uppli ed by I pound per 1 ead daily of a 20% protein supplement doe not meet the upplem ental protein needs of calves on winter range inn rthwe t N ebra ka. 2. Two pounds of a 20% protein supplement, 1 pound of a 40% pro-tein suppl ment, and 4 pound of alfalfa hay p r h ad daily were of approximately equal v lue in producing the total gains (winter and summer) of attle on ran e of th typ u ed in the e tuclie . The results indicate, however, that upplementing thi type of winter range with 2 p unds oE a 40% protein uppl emen t is not profitable. 3. A full feed of alfalfa hay eith r on range or in th e dry lot did not increase total gains enough (winter and summer) over either 4 pound of alfalfa hay per head daily or 1 pound of a 40% protein supplement per head daily t repay the additional cost. This w s not an economical way to winter alve that were to b grazed the following summer. 4. Cost per unit of pr tein a tually suppli d is the major factor in electing a protein supplem nt for al e n winter range of the type u ed in the e trial . 5. Relatively larg e winter gains w r follow d by mewhat reduced summer gains. Thus, it is de irable to consider total gain (winter and summer) in sele ting the most onomi al method of wintering calves that are to b grazed the following summer. 1 W. w. RowoEN is In tru tor in nimal Hu bandr and .J. E . I GALL is sociat Prof r of Animal Husbandry and up rint nd nt , Fort R bin ·on Beef Cattle R -s arch Station, niversity of braska; K. E. GREGORY i Professor of nimal Hus-bandry, Principal Geneticist, A.R .. , U D , Regional Coordinator, -1 B ef Catt! Breeding Res earch; R . M. Ko H i Prof ssor of Animal Husbandr and Chairman of the D partment, niversity of ebraska. 3 The Trials 'he alv s u d in the bou ght in ober and th c. p riment start l in eithe r Nnovem r or D ecemb er he y rs in-V olv d w r 19 , and trial. . All att I· had fre ac to ·aJ alt mixedl with steam <l bo1 e rn al and water throu ghouL the winte r and summ r. It i · as umedthat the st eamed bon mea l prov l I ·t I qual ph phoro . . En ugh dry grass w availab le during th· wint r l e calves w r f ed alfalfa ha at the rate of appr imate I l p und per h ad dail wh ·n er the· 1 • wa - . ten siv :-inow over. T h wint er pas of thetrial. n<l I durin th latt ·r part o Aprilll group . o( animals gra d the same native rang for approxmat l five months duri1 g th · f ollwoing ·umm r . . umm r razin nd d in lat · ·pt emb r. l win r pas tur · ran d in ize fr m 2000 re, the umm r pasture fr n 2,00 t . ,0 0 er s.he primary gra s in all pa Lu w r lue grama (Boutelouagracilis) n 11 and thread (Stipa c mata) w tern h atgra · ( Agro-pyron smithii) and thread! af ed (Care filifolin). Th umm r pa tur al onlai d a con sider le am u t f p iri sandr ed (Calamovilfa longif Zia). he al alfa ha d wa con 1- utting ha o qu lity. 11 animal wer indi idually w i hed at the b ginning and end of h wint r peri d and at th end f the ummer. Levels of Supplemental Protein In 5 rd t r al Ii id intt mpar £ diff r nl amount £ 2 n t i1 enl n w ight gain · mad cl · llow-i r. Th suppI m at th rat nd 2 p r h ad · in th , l r p ri d. Th rage iniLial wei ht of was · 4 nc . Th re ul are iven in T ab! 1. , o p un l r t in dail nd I p un 1 of prol in uppl mcnt r head dail re ·u lt din app ro i-mat l equal to al w ight gai1 dur ing the winter nd summ er. Both pr videdI the ame 1 l of uppl m n al pre t ir . 1 h re ult indi a thaL l poun l 2 pr tin ·u1 pl n nt p er head daily was nol nough under I ·c nditions. . E n th u h ti ummer gains w re hi h r £ r the gr up ed l p ou nd f · protein upp le m nt they w r n t high n ugh t m, ke up for th lower w i 11 t r gain. he gr up e ei ing 2 slightl m r w int r a nd t 4 pplem n ma l iving I p un l I- r d one pound of prot in on entrate p r da in wint r f 1957-58. 40 pr tein u plem n . Thi diff r ·li ht h v r, th t for all pra Li al purp e , 1 pound p tein upplem , t m ad quate nd m r onom1 1. Sources and Levels of Supplemental Protein In th £ 11 of 1957, h i[ r alv w re di i<led int 1x gr up · r wint r trial . Of th l 4 r ngu 134 h rth n and 1 6 H refo:r<l. he h ifers w re assign d to tr atmen r up a rand m within br d and urc f pur ha . Th av rag initial weight was9 pound. ur f th group eif rs we a prr tein ·uppl m t th wint r. int d in I l t. n n ati e rang p lu · rema ining two group . h u pl 1 fed t th r ur g n nati ran w r · l [ 40 0 in uppl m nl per clail , 2 poun ds of in upplem nt per h al <l u f · alfa ha per h ad dail I ful l of lfalfa tw dry- roup w re full -f i alfalfa hay, r up [ r 11 until Apri l l , and th oth erf a . roup tha t w int r d in th dr 1 t for on1 l 12 f 11-f falfa ha on nati e ran e for th la t 28 da s of trial. Th h ifer full -fed J a on pastur e a appro x im ·1t ely p un ls p r h al · il and the h if r (ull -f · l ha in dry l t at approx imat I 1 d dail . hi · trial ar gi ·n in T ·1bl 2. n h bai f tw ars' results, i aid that 2 pounds f 2 0 pr t in su1 plem nt and l pound of protein supp I 11 ent5 Heifers fed fou r pounds of alfa lfa hay per day in win ter of 1957-58. are of app rox imat ely eq ual va lu e as a wint er suppl ement to calves grazing na tive r ang e in northwest ebraska. The winler ga in s made _ by th e gro up fe<l 4 pounds of alfalfa hay per head daily were some what less than the other lots. H owever, most of this was r ega in ed during the summer. H ence, there was -little d iffer-ence in total ga in betwee n the gro up receiving 4 pound s of alfa lfa ha y per head daily and the other groups. If adequate winter ran ge is avail abl e, it is not economical to winter calves on full feed of alfalfa ha y eith er on the ran ge or in the dry lot. Whil e the group re ceiving a full feed of alfalfa h ay (12 pounds per da y) in the dry lot mad e greater winter gains , th eir summer gai ns were so reduced that they h ad only a slight advantage in total gains. A third trial was condu cted during the year 1958-59. Forty -two Hereford h eifer calves were started on the experiment in early De-cemb er. One group (21 head) was fed l pound of 40% prot ein supp le-ment per h ead dail y. Th e other group (21 head) received 4 pounds of alfalfa ha y per head daily. Th e heifer s averaged 400 pound s at th e start of the experiment. The r esults are presented in Tabl e 3. While the gro up re ceiving I pound of 40% protein suppl ement per head dai ly mad e great er win ter gains, th eir summ er gains were less. The tota l gains mad e by th e two gro ups did not differ grea tly. Thi s agrees with the r esult s of the pr evious year . SU M M ER lb S. l lb. of 40% Protein Suppl ement 6 2.1 2 4 lbs . of Alf alfa \_ Tab le l. Effects of Different Levels of Supplemental Protein on Winter and Subse• qu ent Summer Weig ht Gains of Steers on Native Rang in orthwest ebra ka, N ovember 1956-Septem ber, 1957. Winter 155-da y No . Treatment Winter Gain Summ er Gain Gain Steer s Lb. Lb s. l lb. 20% protein suppl ment head da ily 16 332 6 .. 2 lb. protein per head daily 298 347 61 I lb. prot in suppl ·ment per head daily 60 353 60 2 protein uppl ment per da ily 77 288 61 ln itial r All pounds. Table 2. ff ts of Sour e and Level of upplemental Prot in on and eq ent ummer Weight Gains of ef Heifers on ativ Rang and in Dry Lot in orthwesl ebraska, Decembe1·, 1957- eptember, 1958. lb . 40 upplemcnt p head ily 2 lb. protein supplcmcnL per daily 4 lb. Alfalfa ha Alfalfa full on asture (8 lb. per h ad daily) lfalfa in dry lot 112 da . i--o n native w ith feed of hay for la t 28 day. (12 lb. p r h clail ) Alfa lfa fu ll fed in dry l t 140 days (12 lb. p er h ead dai ly) Lb . . 83 67 87 104 136 A erage Initia l of II po u nds. um Gain Lb. 226 309 218 231 298 63 221 308 67 202 306 66 183 319 65 Ta ble Effects of Source of Suppl ement al Prot ein on and Subsequ ent Summ er Weight Gains of H ei[er s on Na tive Ran ge Nor th west Ne braska, De mber, 1958- eptemb r, 1959. W inter 154-day TrcaLm nt Wi nt Cai n umm r Gain To ta l Gain L bs. Lbs. Heifers 1 lb. suppl em ent per head d ai ly 10 24] 349 21 4 lb. A l fa lf h ay p er h ead dail y 59 331 21 A verage I nitia l W eigh t of II pou nds. 7 Your COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE has several BRANCH OFFICES The Coll ege of Agr icul_ture of your University of Nebraska has a "local office" convenient to you, wh erever yo u ma y live in this wide state . These "loca l offices," of course, are the County Extension offices in mo st Nebraska counti es. Th ere also are the "branc h offices" of the Ex-perim ent Stations at Ft . R obin son, North Platt e, Mitch ell , Alliance and Concord. Your County Agent h as a wicle variety of free bull etin s written by Ne br aska agricultural scient ists and dire cted at Ne bra ska condition s and problems. Wee ur ge you to use your County A g e n t and your County H ome Agent. Th ey are ther e to serv e you . Dean E. F. Fro lik, College of Agr iculture Univers i ty of N ebraska 

Protein Supplements for Beef Calves on Winter Range

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Protein Supplements for Beef Calves on Winter Range

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