Steer calves grazing irrigated corn residue received supplementation of dried distillers grains plus solubles (DGS) at 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, or 1.1% of body weight. Steers were individually supplemented daily through Calan gates. Daily gain improved linearly (0.77 lb/head/day to 2.21 lb/head/day) with increasing supplementation (1.5 lb/day to 7 lb/day). Supplementing DGS to calves grazing corn residue increased gain during the winter period

Bondurant, Robby

Erickson, Galen E., Erickson

Jones, Mandi

Klopfenstein, Terry J.

MacDonald, James C.

English

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports Animal Science Department
2015
Dried Distillers Grains Supplementation of Calves
Grazing Irrigated Corn Residue
Mandi Jones
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
James C. MacDonald
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, jmacdonald2@unl.edu
Galen E. Erickson Erickson
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, gerickson4@unl.edu
Terry J. Klopfenstein
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, tklopfenstein1@unl.edu
Robby Bondurant
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, robby.bondurant@unl.edu
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/animalscinbcr
Part of the Large or Food Animal and Equine Medicine Commons, Meat Science Commons, and
the Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Animal Science Department at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has
been accepted for inclusion in Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
Jones, Mandi; MacDonald, James C.; Erickson, Galen E. Erickson; Klopfenstein, Terry J.; and Bondurant, Robby, "Dried Distillers
Grains Supplementation of Calves Grazing Irrigated Corn Residue" (2015). Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports. 829.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/animalscinbcr/829
© The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska.  All rights reserved. 2015 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report  — Page 25 
(Continued on next page)
Dried Distillers Grains Supplementation of Calves Grazing 
Irrigated Corn Residue
Mandi Jones
Jim C. MacDonald
Galen Erickson
Terry J. Klopfenstein
Robby Bondurant1
Summary
Steer calves grazing irrigated corn 
residue received supplementation of 
dried distillers grains plus solubles 
(DGS) at 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, or 1.1% of 
body weight. Steers were individually 
supplemented daily through Calan 
gates. Daily gain improved linearly 
(0.77 lb/head/day to 2.21 lb/head/day) 
with increasing supplementation (1.5 
lb/day to 7 lb/day). Supplementing DGS 
to calves grazing corn residue increased 
gain during the winter period.
Introduction
There is significant potential for 
grazing corn residues in Nebraska due 
to the acres of corn planted annually . 
Grazing residues increases the length 
of the grazing season, allowing pro-
ducers to feed less harvested feeds, 
thereby reducing annual feed costs. 
However, residues are lower in CP and 
energy than what is required to meet 
the needs of growing calves gaining 
more than 1 lb per day. Providing 
protein supplementation in the form 
of rumen undegradable protein (RUP) 
allows producers to increase winter 
gain of growing calves on corn resi-
due. A feed that acts as an excellent 
source of RUP and energy in forage-
based diets is distillers grains plus 
solubles (DGS). A quadratic effect 
has previously been demonstrated for 
calves grazing irrigated corn residue 
and receiving dried DGS at increasing 
levels, with optimal supplementation 
being at 1.1% of body weight (2014 
Nebraska Beef Catle Report, pp. 48-
49). 
The objective of this trial was to 
compare different levels of supple-
mentation of dried DGS for calves 
grazing an irrigated corn residue field.
Procedure
Sixty crossbred steers (519 ± 11 lb) 
were backgrounded on corn residue 
from Nov. 6, 2013, to Jan. 31, 2014, at 
the University of Nebraska–Lincoln 
Agricultural Research and Develop-
ment Center near Mead, Neb. Treat-
ments were arranged in a completely 
randomized design. Steers were as-
signed randomly to treatment to 
evaluate the effects of gain for calves 
grazing corn residue and receiving 
dried DGS supplementation. Dried 
DGS was fed at an inclusion level of 
0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, or 1.1% of BW (5, 8.5, 
11.5, 16, or 20 lb). Steers were gathered 
at 1,600 and offered supplementation 
individually through Calan gates. 
Steers were turned out at 0700 to 
graze residue for the remainder of the 
day. All calves were implanted with 
Ralgro® on day one of the trial and 
received monensin at 200 mg/steer 
and limestone at 60 g/steer daily as 
part of supplementation.
Six ruminally canulated steers 
were utilized for diet sampling. Diet 
samples were collected three times 
throughout the trial by evacuating the 
rumen of solid and liquid particulate 
matter. Once steers had a chance to 
graze for thirty minutes they were 
brought back in and the grazed for-
age was collected from the rumen, 
sealed in a labeled bag, and stored on 
ice for later analysis of in vitro organic 
matter disappearance (IVOMD). 
The original rumen contents prior 
to diet sampling were replaced in the 
rumen of the respective steer prior 
to turning them out with the herd. 
Total grazed contents were frozen and 
subsequently freeze dried. Samples 
were ground through a 1 mm screen 
prior to analysis . Diet IVOMD was 
determined by incubating each 
sample for 48 hours in a solution of 
MacDougall’s buffer and rumen fluid. 
Samples were then filtered, dried, and 
ashed to obtain DM and OM amounts 
for the IVOMD calculation. 
For grazing cattle, stocking rates 
are traditionally based on available 
forage and not the quality of the for-
age. Stocking rate was calculated 
based on yield of the field at harvest 
and previous research quantifying 
the amount of residue consumed per 
acre. The yield (bu/ac), estimated 
forage availability (8 lb/bu), grazing 
efficiency factor (85% for irrigated), 
and number of acres were multiplied 
together to estimate the total available 
forage for each field. Total available 
forage was then divided by estimated 
DMI of all steers allotted to graze each 
respective field in order to get days of 
available grazing. Using this calcula-
tion, the 32 acre irrigated field would 
allow 66 steers to graze for 84 days 
based on a yield of 260 bu of grain/ac. 
Due to the limited number of Calan 
gates, only 60 steers could be supple-
mented in the barn. The six ruminally 
canulated steers utilized for diet sam-
pling were able to graze irri gated corn 
residue and received daily supplemen-
tation of dried DGS at 0.7% BW in a 
feed bunk outside the barn.
Results
Average daily gain increased 
linearly (P = 0.03) with increasing 
level of dried DGS supplementation 
for calves grazing irrigated corn resi-
due. Calves supplemented at 0.3, 0.5, 
0.7, 0.9, and 1.1% of BW gained an 
average of 0.77, 1.44, 1.71, 1.95, and 
2.21 lb/day (P < 0.01). No feed refusals 
were observed for steers supplemented 
Page 26 — 2015 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report  © The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska.  All rights reserved.
at any level. The gain response to 
increasing levels of DGS supplementa-
tion is shown in Figure 1. The linear 
effect suggests that optimal gain per 
lb of supplementation may not have 
been reached. Previous research (2006 
Nebraska Beef Cattle Report, pp. 36-
37) evaluating supplementation level 
of DGS used higher supplementation 
amounts than 1.1% of BW and found 
a quadratic response with increasing 
supplementation level. The high-
est level for this trial was set at 1.1% 
BW based on the previous year’s trial 
which showed 1.1% BW as the optimal 
level while minimizing feed refusals 
(2014 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report, pp. 
48-49). The current study may not 
have observed a quadratic response 
due to the maximum level of supple-
mentation set in order to achieve 
maximum gain per lb of supplement.
No differences in IVOMD were 
present for diet samples collected and 
analyzed by sampling period  
(P = 0.52). Figure 2 shows the changes 
in IVOMD over time. The IVOMD 
calculation shows the quality of the 
diet samples throughout the sampling 
period for the irrigated field to remain 
relatively constant. Grazing corn resi-
due is unique in that all of the avail-
able forage is accessible to the animal 
on the first day of grazing. Animal 
selectivity occurs with the steer con-
suming the grain, husk, leaf, cob, and 
then stalk. Residue parts are selected 
for in order of highest to lowest nutri-
ent quality, supporting the decline in 
IVOMD over the grazing period. The 
lack of decline in diet quality suggests 
we had an appropriate stocking rate to 
maintain forage quality throughout 
the grazing season.
This experiment suggests gain is 
greater for calves receiving a higher 
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
A
D
G
 (
in
 lb
)
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Level of DGS (% of BW)
Figure 1. Effect of gain on level of dried distillers grains.
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
IV
O
M
D
 (
%
)
11/12/2013 11/22/2013 12/2/2013 12/12/2013 12/22/2013 1/1/2014 1/11/2014 1/21/2014
Sampling Date
Figure 2. In vitro organic matter disappearance of diet samples over time.
supplementation level as a percentage 
of BW. The optimal supplementation 
level does not appear to have been 
met and may be higher than 1.1% BW 
since steers were given sufficient time 
to consume supplement.
1Mandi Jones, graduate student; Jim 
C. MacDonald; associate professor; Terry J. 
Klopfenstein, professor; Galen E. Erickson, 
professor; Robby Bondurant, research 
technician, University of Nebraska–Lincoln 
Department of Animal Science, Lincoln, Neb.


Dried Distillers Grains Supplementation of Calves Grazing Irrigated Corn Residue

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - LincolnDigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - LincolnNebraska Beef Cattle Reports Animal Science Department2015Dried Distillers Grains Supplementation of CalvesGrazing Irrigated Corn ResidueMandi JonesUniversity of Nebraska-LincolnJames C. MacDonaldUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, jmacdonald2@unl.eduGalen E. Erickson EricksonUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, gerickson4@unl.eduTerry J. KlopfensteinUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, tklopfenstein1@unl.eduRobby BondurantUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, robby.bondurant@unl.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/animalscinbcrPart of the Large or Food Animal and Equine Medicine Commons, Meat Science Commons, andthe Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Animal Science Department at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.Jones, Mandi; MacDonald, James C.; Erickson, Galen E. Erickson; Klopfenstein, Terry J.; and Bondurant, Robby, "Dried DistillersGrains Supplementation of Calves Grazing Irrigated Corn Residue" (2015). Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports. 829.http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/animalscinbcr/829© The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska.  All rights reserved. 2015 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report  — Page 25 (Continued on next page)Dried Distillers Grains Supplementation of Calves Grazing Irrigated Corn ResidueMandi JonesJim C. MacDonaldGalen EricksonTerry J. KlopfensteinRobby Bondurant1SummarySteer calves grazing irrigated corn residue received supplementation of dried distillers grains plus solubles (DGS) at 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, or 1.1% of body weight. Steers were individually supplemented daily through Calan gates. Daily gain improved linearly (0.77 lb/head/day to 2.21 lb/head/day) with increasing supplementation (1.5 lb/day to 7 lb/day). Supplementing DGS to calves grazing corn residue increased gain during the winter period.IntroductionThere is significant potential for grazing corn residues in Nebraska due to the acres of corn planted annually . Grazing residues increases the length of the grazing season, allowing pro-ducers to feed less harvested feeds, thereby reducing annual feed costs. However, residues are lower in CP and energy than what is required to meet the needs of growing calves gaining more than 1 lb per day. Providing protein supplementation in the form of rumen undegradable protein (RUP) allows producers to increase winter gain of growing calves on corn resi-due. A feed that acts as an excellent source of RUP and energy in forage-based diets is distillers grains plus solubles (DGS). A quadratic effect has previously been demonstrated for calves grazing irrigated corn residue and receiving dried DGS at increasing levels, with optimal supplementation being at 1.1% of body weight (2014 Nebraska Beef Catle Report, pp. 48-49). The objective of this trial was to compare different levels of supple-mentation of dried DGS for calves grazing an irrigated corn residue field.ProcedureSixty crossbred steers (519 ± 11 lb) were backgrounded on corn residue from Nov. 6, 2013, to Jan. 31, 2014, at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Agricultural Research and Develop-ment Center near Mead, Neb. Treat-ments were arranged in a completely randomized design. Steers were as-signed randomly to treatment to evaluate the effects of gain for calves grazing corn residue and receiving dried DGS supplementation. Dried DGS was fed at an inclusion level of 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, or 1.1% of BW (5, 8.5, 11.5, 16, or 20 lb). Steers were gathered at 1,600 and offered supplementation individually through Calan gates. Steers were turned out at 0700 to graze residue for the remainder of the day. All calves were implanted with Ralgro® on day one of the trial and received monensin at 200 mg/steer and limestone at 60 g/steer daily as part of supplementation.Six ruminally canulated steers were utilized for diet sampling. Diet samples were collected three times throughout the trial by evacuating the rumen of solid and liquid particulate matter. Once steers had a chance to graze for thirty minutes they were brought back in and the grazed for-age was collected from the rumen, sealed in a labeled bag, and stored on ice for later analysis of in vitro organic matter disappearance (IVOMD). The original rumen contents prior to diet sampling were replaced in the rumen of the respective steer prior to turning them out with the herd. Total grazed contents were frozen and subsequently freeze dried. Samples were ground through a 1 mm screen prior to analysis . Diet IVOMD was determined by incubating each sample for 48 hours in a solution of MacDougall’s buffer and rumen fluid. Samples were then filtered, dried, and ashed to obtain DM and OM amounts for the IVOMD calculation. For grazing cattle, stocking rates are traditionally based on available forage and not the quality of the for-age. Stocking rate was calculated based on yield of the field at harvest and previous research quantifying the amount of residue consumed per acre. The yield (bu/ac), estimated forage availability (8 lb/bu), grazing efficiency factor (85% for irrigated), and number of acres were multiplied together to estimate the total available forage for each field. Total available forage was then divided by estimated DMI of all steers allotted to graze each respective field in order to get days of available grazing. Using this calcula-tion, the 32 acre irrigated field would allow 66 steers to graze for 84 days based on a yield of 260 bu of grain/ac. Due to the limited number of Calan gates, only 60 steers could be supple-mented in the barn. The six ruminally canulated steers utilized for diet sam-pling were able to graze irri gated corn residue and received daily supplemen-tation of dried DGS at 0.7% BW in a feed bunk outside the barn.ResultsAverage daily gain increased linearly (P = 0.03) with increasing level of dried DGS supplementation for calves grazing irrigated corn resi-due. Calves supplemented at 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, and 1.1% of BW gained an average of 0.77, 1.44, 1.71, 1.95, and 2.21 lb/day (P < 0.01). No feed refusals were observed for steers supplemented Page 26 — 2015 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report  © The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska.  All rights reserved.at any level. The gain response to increasing levels of DGS supplementa-tion is shown in Figure 1. The linear effect suggests that optimal gain per lb of supplementation may not have been reached. Previous research (2006 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report, pp. 36-37) evaluating supplementation level of DGS used higher supplementation amounts than 1.1% of BW and found a quadratic response with increasing supplementation level. The high-est level for this trial was set at 1.1% BW based on the previous year’s trial which showed 1.1% BW as the optimal level while minimizing feed refusals (2014 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report, pp. 48-49). The current study may not have observed a quadratic response due to the maximum level of supple-mentation set in order to achieve maximum gain per lb of supplement.No differences in IVOMD were present for diet samples collected and analyzed by sampling period  (P = 0.52). Figure 2 shows the changes in IVOMD over time. The IVOMD calculation shows the quality of the diet samples throughout the sampling period for the irrigated field to remain relatively constant. Grazing corn resi-due is unique in that all of the avail-able forage is accessible to the animal on the first day of grazing. Animal selectivity occurs with the steer con-suming the grain, husk, leaf, cob, and then stalk. Residue parts are selected for in order of highest to lowest nutri-ent quality, supporting the decline in IVOMD over the grazing period. The lack of decline in diet quality suggests we had an appropriate stocking rate to maintain forage quality throughout the grazing season.This experiment suggests gain is greater for calves receiving a higher 2.521.510.50ADG (in lb)0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2Level of DGS (% of BW)Figure 1. Effect of gain on level of dried distillers grains.706050403020100IVOMD (%)11/12/2013 11/22/2013 12/2/2013 12/12/2013 12/22/2013 1/1/2014 1/11/2014 1/21/2014Sampling DateFigure 2. In vitro organic matter disappearance of diet samples over time.supplementation level as a percentage of BW. The optimal supplementation level does not appear to have been met and may be higher than 1.1% BW since steers were given sufficient time to consume supplement.1Mandi Jones, graduate student; Jim C. MacDonald; associate professor; Terry J. Klopfenstein, professor; Galen E. Erickson, professor; Robby Bondurant, research technician, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Department of Animal Science, Lincoln, Neb.

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Dried Distillers Grains Supplementation of Calves Grazing Irrigated Corn Residue

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