Limit-fed, high energy (57 Mcal per cwt dry matter) diets were compared to full - fed, Low energy (46 Mcal per cwt dry matter) corn silage and alfalfa hay diets. Feed conversions were 5.68 and 5.78 lb of dry matter per lb of gain for the limit-fed silage and alfalfa diets vs 6.86 and 7.45 lb of dry matter per lb o f gain for the full - fed silage and alfalfa hay diets, respectively. Break-even roughage prices were calculated from feed efficiency and ration cost information. If corn is valued to the bunk at 31.50 per bushel and soybean meal is worth $200 per ton, limit feeding is more economical than full feeding if corn silage and alfalfa hay cost more than 816.73 and $47.70 per ton to the bunk

Mader, T.L.

Wagner, J.J.

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South Dakota State UniversityOpen PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access InstitutionalRepository and Information ExchangeSouth Dakota Beef Report, 1987 Animal Science Reports1987Limit-Fed, High Energy Diets for Growing CattleJ.J. WagnerSouth Dakota State UniversityT.L. MaderSouth Dakota State UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://openprairie.sdstate.edu/sd_beefreport_1987Part of the Animal Sciences CommonsThis Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Animal Science Reports at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access InstitutionalRepository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in South Dakota Beef Report, 1987 by an authorized administrator of OpenPRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contactmichael.biondo@sdstate.edu.Recommended CitationWagner, J.J. and Mader, T.L., "Limit-Fed, High Energy Diets for Growing Cattle" (1987). South Dakota Beef Report, 1987. Paper 5.http://openprairie.sdstate.edu/sd_beefreport_1987/5LIMIT-FED, HIGH ENERGY DIETS FOR GROWING CATTLE 1 J. J. Wagner and T. L. Mader 2 Department o f  Animal and Range Sciences BEEF REPORT CATTLE 87-4 L imi t - fed,  h igh energy (57 Mcal per cwt d r y  matter) d i e t s  were compared t o  f u l l - f e d ,  Low energy (46 Mcal per cwt d r y  matter) corn s i l a g e  and a l f a l f a  hay d iets .  Feed conversions were 5.68 and 5.78 Lb o f  d r y  matter per Lb o f  ga in f o r  the L im i t - fed  s i l a g e  and a l f a l f a  d i e t s  vs 6.86 and 7.45 l b  o f  d r y  matter per l b  o f  ga in  f o r  the f u l l - f e d  s i l a g e  and a l f a l f a  hay d iets ,  respect ively. Break-even roughage p r i ces  were ca lcu lated from feed e f f i c i e n c y  and r a t i o n  cost information. I f  corn i s  valued t o  the bunk a t  31.50 per bushel and soybean meal i s  worth $200 per ton, l i m i t  feeding i s  more economical than f u l l  feeding i f  corn s i l age  and a l f a l f a  hay cost more than 816.73 and $47.70 per ton  t o  the bunk. (Key Words: L i m i t  Feeding, Growing Programs, Corn Silage, A l f a l f a  Hay.) In t roduc t ion  Backgrounding o r  feedlot  growing programs are designed t o  L imi t  the gain o f  L ight  c a t t l e ,  enabl ing them t o  grow frame p r i o r  to-  f u l l  feeding o f  a high energy f i n i s h i n g  d ie t .  T rad i t i ona l l y ,  h igh roughage, Low energy d i e t s  have been used t o  grow Light c a t t l e .  These d i e t s  are f u l l  fed and L imi t  ga in due t o  t h e i r  Lower energy density.  Roughage i s  usua l l y  the most expensive energy source i n  the d ie t .  L i m i t  feeding h igh energy d i e t s  f o r  Light c a t t l e  i s  based on the premise tha t  g ra in  i s  usual ly  cheaper per u n i t  o f  energy than roughage. Therefore, l i m i t  feeding high energy d i e t s  may decrease cost o f . g a i n  when g ra in  i s  p r i ced  r e l a t i v e l y  cheap and roughage r e l a t i v e l y  high. I n  order t o  more p rec ise ly  describe the economics o f  l i m i t  feeding, r e l i a b l e  estimates o f  feed e f f i c i e n c y  and feedlot  performance are needed. The object ives o f  t h i s  research were t o  (1) compare performance o f  l i m i t - f e d  and f u l l - f e d  c a t t l e  dur ing the growing phase, (2) compare corn s i l age  and a l f a l f a  hay as roughage sources i n  L im i t - fed  d i e t s  and (3) use performance data t o  study the economics o f  L imi t  feeding. Mater ia ls  and Methods One hundred n inety- two preconditioned Angus s teer  calves were purchased from western South Dakota and transported t o  the  Southeast South Dakota Experiment Farm near Beresford. C a t t l e  were placed on a 3-week s t a r t e r  program p r i o r  t o  L im i t  feeding. C a t t l e  were weighed, implanted wi th  Synovex-S, s t r a t i f i e d  by weight and a l l o t t e d  t o  four  experimental treatments ( t a b l e  1)  with s i x  pens per treatment. At the s t a r t  o f  the L imi t  feeding study, steers fed the corn s i l age  d i e t s  were fed d i e t  3 f o r  5 days. Steers fed the a l f a l f a  hay d i e t  were fed d i e t  4 f o r  5 days. During the next 7 days, L i m i t - f e d  s teers were fed a d i e t  wi th  moderate roughage leve ls  (50.3% s i lage  o r  31.0% a l f a l f a  hay on a d r y  matter basis).  This step-up per iod allowed the c a t t l e  t o  become accustomed t o  the l im i t - feed ing  regimen. F u l l - f e d  c a t t l e  were allowed t o  consume t h e i r  feed ad Libitum. L i m i t - f e d  c a t t l e  were o f fe red  d i e t s  1 and 2 i n  amounts computed t o  enable the c a t t l e  t o  grow a t  2.25 Lb per head per day. Each week the L i m i t - f e d  c a t t l e  were assumed t o  have grown 16 Lb and d a i l y  feed in take was increased accordingly. On days when the wind c h i l l  was between 0 and 20 F, -20 and 0 F o r  Less than -20 F a t  8 am, the d a i l y  feed allowance was increased by 10, 20 o r  30%, respect ively. During the 96-day t r i a l ,  c a t t l e  were weighed i n i t i a l l y  and a t  14-day i n t e r v a l s  fo l l ow ing  a 16-hour withdrawal from feed. 'Assistant Professor. 'Northeast Nebraska Research and Extension Center, Un ive rs i t y  o f  Nebraska, Concord. 7 TABLE 1. COMPOSITION OF EXPERIMENTAL DIETS I tem Limit - f ed Full-fed Corn Corn silage (1) Alfalfa (2) silage (3) Alfalfa (4) a Ingredient Corn silage Alfalfa hay High moisture corn Supplement Soybean meal Ground corn Dehy alfalfa Dicalcium phosphate Limes tone Trace mineral salt Vitamin A-30 Compos'tion 6 NEmc NEg Crude protein Potassium Calcium Phosphorus Dry matter a Percentage of dry matter. Net energy for maintenance, Mcal per cwt dry matter. C Net energy for gain, Mcal per cwt dry matter. Results and Discussion --Performance of  c a t t l e  during the growing phase i s  displayed i n  tab le  2. Dif ferences i n  average d a i l y  gain between the l i m i t - f e d  corn s i lage  and the f u l l - f e d  treatments were not s ign i f i can t .  Ca t t le  fed the L imi t - fed a l f a l f a  hay d i e t  gained Less weight than c a t t l e  fed the other treatments. F i l l  d i f ferences may account f o r  th is ,  since these c a t t l e  received less d ry  matter and less t o t a l  feed than the other treatments. A L L  c a t t l e  gained s i g n i f i c a n t l y  more than the projected 2.25 l b  per head per day. This may be due t o  underestimating the energy content o f  the d iets .  Also, adjustments made f o r  intake due t o  inc l imate weather may have been too Large. By design o f  the experiment, l i m i t - f e d  c a t t l e  consumed Less d ry  matter than f u l l - f e d  c a t t l e  (14.55 vs 19.37 Lb per head da i l y ) .  Ca t t l e  consuming the f u l l - f e d  a l f a l f a  d i e t  consumed more d r y  matter than the f u l l - f e d  corn s i lage  c a t t l e  (20.49 vs 18.25 l b  per head da i l y ) .  As expected, feed/gain was improved by Limit feeding. L im i t - f ed  c a t t l e  required approximately 5.73 Lb d ry  matter per Lb of  gain compared t o  7.16 f o r  the f u l l - f e d  cat t le .  High energy d i e t s  general ly cost more per cwt d ry  matter than h igh roughage d iets .  For l i m i t  feeding t o  be economical, the improvement i n  feed e f f i c i ency  must pay fo r  higher r a t i o n  costs. Solving the fo l lowing equation provides estimates of  the break-even s i lage  and a l f a l f a  pr ices f o r  l i m i t  feeding versus f u l l  feeding: Ration cost (Limit)*F/G ( l i m i t )  = r a t i on  cost ( ful l )*F/G ( f u l l )  TABLE 2 .  PERFORMANCE OF CATTLE DURING THE GROWING PHASE a I tem D i e t  L imi t  - f e d  F u l l - f e d  Corn s i l a g e  A l f a l f a  Corn s i l a g e  A l f a l f a  I n i t i a l  w t ,  l b  552 552 556 552 ADG, l b  2 .  64b 2.44; 2 .66 2. 75c F/G 5 .  68b 5 .  78b 6.86: 7 .  45d DMI, l b /  15 .00  14 .10  18 .25  20.49 a ADG = ave rage  d a i l y  g a i n ,  F/G - f e e d  t o  g a i n  r a t i o ,  D M 1  = d a i l y  d r y  m a t t e r  in%% ; d  Means i n  same row w i t h  u n l i k e  s u p e r s c r i p t s  d i f f e r  (PC.05) .  Table 3 shows break-even roughage p r i ces  i n  tabular  form. I f  roughage costs are above those Listed, feed costs favor  l i m i t  feeding. I f  roughage costs are below those Listed, feed costs favor f u l l  feeding. I f  corn i s  $1.50 per bushel t o  the  bunk and soybean meal i s  8200 per ton, the break-even p r i c e  f o r  corn s i l a g e  i s  $16.73 and f o r  a l f a l f a  hay i s  $57.80 per ton. S BM p r i c e  b Corn p r i c e .  $ / b u s h e l  ($ / ton> Roughage 1 .00  1 .50  2.00 2 .50 CS 11 .83  15 .40  19 .04  22 .61  ALF 36.26 36 .61  36.96 37 .31  200 C S 13.16 16 .73  20.37 23.94 ALF 47.34 47.70 48.05 48.40 250 C S 14 .49  18 .06  21.70 25.27 ALF 58.61 58.96 59 .31  59.66 a Assumes c o r n  s i l a g e  h a s  35% d r y  m a t t e r  and a l f a l f a  hay h a s  88% d r y  m a t t e r  andb14% c rude  p r o t e i n .  CS = c o r n  s i l a g e ,  ALF - a l f a l f a  hay.  C a t t l e  were f in i shed  as ou t l i ned  i n  a r t i c l e  Ca t t le  87-7 o f  t h i s  report. Table 4 shows the f i n i s h i n g  performance o f  c a t t l e  tha t  were L im i t - fed  during the growing phase versus c a t t l e  tha t  were f u l l - f e d .  During the f i r s t  14 and 28 days o f  the  f i n i s h i n g  period, l i m i t - f e d  c a t t l e  had Lower d r y  matter in take than f u l l - f e d  ca t t le ,  but overa l l  intakes were s i m i l a r  f o r  both groups. Average d a i l y  gain, feed conversion and carcass t r a i t s  were s i m i l a r  f o r  L i m i t - f e d  vs f u l l - f e d  c a t t l e  dur ing the f i n i s h i n g  phase. L i m i t  feeding appears t o  be a v iab le  opt ion f o r  c a t t l e  feeders t o  consider. Careful  analys is  o f  feed costs considering corn, roughage and supplement p r i ces  as wel l  as r e l i a b l e  estimates o f  feed e f f i c i e n c y  are absolutely essent ia l  t o  determine which management scheme i s  most economical. TABLE 4. PERFORMANCE OF CATTLE DURING THE FINISHING PHASE Treatment a Item Limit-fed Full-fed DM1 14. 1bb DM1 28, lb DMI, lb ADG, lb F/G C Quality grade Yield grade Dressing percent Shrink, % Days on feed a DM1 14, DM1 28 and DM1 - average daily dry matter intake first 14 days, first 28 days and entire trial, respectively; ADGb- average daily gain, F/G = feed to gain ratio. C P<.07. 2 - choice, 3 - good. Poten t ia l  d i f ferences i n  nonfeed costs must a lso be considered. L im i t  feeding requires a higher degree of management than t r a d i t i o n a l  high roughage growing programs. L im i t - fed  c a t t l e  are always hungrier than f u l l - f e d  c a t t l e  and may be more susceptible t o  acidosis and b loat  problems. Addit ional bunk space may be needed t o  enable a l l  c a t t l e  t o  eat t h e i r  required rat ion.  Feeding two times d a i l y  2 hours apart (i.e., 9 and 11 am) may a l l e v i a t e  , bunk space shortage. 

Limit-Fed, High Energy Diets for Growing Cattle

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Limit-Fed, High Energy Diets for Growing Cattle

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