Francis, Forest L.

Grimes Francis, Becca B.

Rusche, Warren C.

Smith, Zachary K.

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South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange Animal Science Research Report 2025 Animal Science Field Day Proceedings and Research Reports 5-2025 Effect of Increased Time Spent on a High-Forage Receiving Ration on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics in Angus × Holstein Steers Becca B. Grimes Francis Forest L. Francis Warren C. Rusche Zachary K. Smith Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/ans_report_2025 Recommended Citation Grimes Francis, Becca B.; Francis, Forest L.; Rusche, Warren C.; and Smith, Zachary K., "Effect of Increased Time Spent on a High-Forage Receiving Ration on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics in Angus × Holstein Steers" (2025). Animal Science Research Report 2025. 20. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/ans_report_2025/20 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Animal Science Field Day Proceedings and Research Reports at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Animal Science Research Report 2025 by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact michael.biondo@sdstate.edu.    75 Animal Science Research Report 2025 Effect of increased time spent on a high-forage receiving ration on growth performance and carcass characteristics in Angus × Holstein steers Becca B. Grimes Francis, Forest L. Francis, Warren C. Rusche and Zachary K. Smith Rationale and Approach An increase in the population of beef × dairy crossbreds in the fed-beef supply in recent years has posed questions regarding appropriate management of these calves. Dairy-influenced calves are typically on feed for much longer than their native counterparts (300+ d) and therefore are more susceptible to metabolic disorders such as acute and subacute ruminal acidosis, thus making them more prone to increased rates of liver abscesses at slaughter. Prior to feedlot arrival, dairy-influenced calves are provided texturized or pelleted calf starters that are based upon grain and provide little to no roughage supplementation to maximize efficiency and gain at the calf ranch sector. Therefore, these calves are unfamiliar with high levels of roughage as is commonly provided in feedlot receiving rations. Furthermore, dairy-influenced calves are often transitioned to finishing diets sooner than their native counterparts to optimize entire-period efficiency of gain and profitability. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of differing lengths of time spent on a high-forage receiving ration on growth performance and carcass traits in lightweight Angus × Holstein steers. Angus × Holstein steers were procured from a single grower yard in Iowa and transported to the Ruminant Nutrition Center in Brookings, SD. Steers (n = 144; initial shrunk BW = 423 ± 37 lb) were allotted by BW to one of 18 treatment pens (n = 8 steers/pen). Treatments consisted of a 30% roughage equivalent (RE; DM basis) corn silage based-diet fed for either 28 (REC28), 56 (REC56), or 84 d (REC84) post-feedlot arrival before transitioning to a 12% RE finishing diet (six replicate pens per treatment).  Findings Increased time spent on a high-forage diet linearly reduced (P < 0.01) BW and ADG and increased F:G and tended to reduce DMI (P = 0.10) during the first 97 DOF. No differences (P ≥ 0.10) were observed for entire-period growth performance outcomes among treatments. A tendency for less fat thickness (P = 0.07) was observed in REC84 steers, but no other differences (P ≥ 0.19) in carcass performance outcomes were noted. A numerical reduction in total liver abscessation was observed and was driven by a tendency (P = 0.06) for a linear reduction in minor abscesses with increasing time spent on a 30% RE receiving diet.  Implications Greater time spent on a high-forage receiving ration depressed receiving period growth performance but did not alter entire-feeding performance or carcass characteristics, and prevalence of liver abscesses, but did numerically reduce final BW by 2.4%.     76 Table 1. Receiving period (d 1 – 97) and cumulative performance (d 1 – end) of Angus x Holstein steers fed a high-forage receiving diet for 28 (REC28), 56 (REC56), or 84-d (REC84)   Item Treatment SEM P - value REC28 REC56 REC84 F-test Linear Pens, n 6 6 6 - - - Steers, n 47 48 48 - - - Initial BW, lb1 423 423 423 0.75 0.98 - d 97 BW, lb1 749a 729b 716b 6.1 0.01 0.01 d 168 BW, lb1 1,056 1,047 1,032 7.10 0.10 0.04 Cx Adj. FBW, lb2 1,501 1,487 1,465 17.7 0.38 0.18 AFBW, lb3 1,338 1,328 1,332 11.9 0.84 0.75 ADG, lb/d       d 1 - 97 3.36a 3.15b 3.01b 0.063 0.01 0.01 d 97 – 168 4.33 4.48 4.45 0.059 0.20 0.16 d 97 – end2 4.02 4.05 4.00 0.095 0.93 0.90 d 168 – end2 3.84 3.80 3.73 0.129 0.84 0.57 d 0 – end2 3.80 3.75 3.67 0.062 0.36 0.17 DMI, lb       d 1 - 97 16.10a 15.66ab 15.55b 0.241 0.10 0.05 d 97 – 168 21.16 21.64 21.72 0.242 0.18 0.09 d 97 – end2 24.45 24.66 24.69 0.463 0.85 0.61 d 168 – end2 26.47 26.51 26.51 0.632 1.00 0.95 d 0 – end2 21.65 21.64 21.62 0.346 1.00 0.93 F:G4       d 1 - 97 4.78a 4.98b 5.15c - 0.01 0.01 d 97 – 168 4.89 4.84 4.89 - 0.85 0.96 d 97 – end2 6.09 6.09 6.18 - 0.87 0.64 d 168 – end2 6.92 7.00 7.15 - 0.77 0.48 d 0 – end2 5.69 5.77 5.89 - 0.33 0.15 a,b,cMeans within a row lacking a common superscript differ P ≤ 0.05. 1All BW measures were pencil shrunk 4% to account for digestive tract fill. 2Adjusted final BW to a common study DP of 0.6278; Cx Adj. FBW = (HCW/0.6278). 3Final BW adjusted to 28% EBF (Guiroy et al. 2001). 4Analyzed as G:F, the reciprocal of F:G.    77 Table 2. Carcass traits of Angus × Holstein steers fed a high-forage receiving diet for 28 (REC28), 56 (REC56), or 84-d (REC84) Item Treatments SEM P-value REC28 REC56 REC84 F-test Carcasses, n 46 45 48 - - HCW, lb 942 934 920 11.1 0.37 DP, % 63.0 62.7 62.7 0.35 0.80 REA, in2 13.91 13.75 16.35 0.167 0.55 Rib fat, in 0.60 0.60 0.54 0.022 0.07 YG 3.49 3.52 3.33 0.087 0.19 Marbling1 520 525 516 15.9 0.91 EBF2, % 31.8 31.9 31.1 0.37 0.28 Quality grade, %      Prime 8.7 4.5 6.7 3.68 0.79 Choice or better 84.8 95.5 86.7 4.52 0.52 Select 15.2 4.5 13.3 4.61 0.52 Liver outcomes3, %      Abscessed 41.3 37.8 33.3 - 0.78 Minor 23.8 17.4 8.2 - 0.06* Major 17.4 20.0 25.0 - 0.62 1400 = Small00, 500 = Modest00,  2Empty body fat, % calculated from Guiroy et al. (2001) 3Minor = A- (1 or 2 small abscesses), A (1 to 2 large abscesses or multiple small abscesses); Major = A+ (multiple large abscesses), A+ Adhesion (liver adhered to gastrointestinal tract or diaphragm or both), or A+ Open (open liver abscess). *Linear response

Effect of Increased Time Spent on a High-Forage Receiving Ration on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics in Angus × Holstein Steers

https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=ans_report_2025

Effect of Increased Time Spent on a High-Forage Receiving Ration on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics in Angus × Holstein Steers

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