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Biuret Versus Urea and Cottonseed Meal for Wintering and Finishing Steers¹

U. S. Department of Agriculture and University of Florida, Brooksville 33512

Abstract

Four 112-day wintering trials were conducted with 160 growing steers to compare feed grade biuret, urea and cottonseed meal as supplements with low quality chopped grass hay fed ad libitum A negative control group (hay plus minerals) was used in each trial. Feeding biuret in a mineral mixture improved (P< .05) animal performance when the hay contained about 4.5% crude protein but was not as effective with hay containing 6.0% or more crude protein. Feeding isonitrogenous and isocaloric quantities of a biuret-corn meal or urea-corn meal supplement improved (P< .05) animal performance over the negative control but neither supplement was as good (P< .05) as cottonseed meal. Feeding either the biuret-corn meal or the urea-corn meal supplement on a daily basis was superior to feeding an equivalent amount three times weekly. The performance of steers fed cottonseed meal was similar with daily vs. three times weekly basis. Hay intakes were not influenced by supplements in any of the trials.

Two 112-day finishing trials involving 96 yearling steers were conducted to compare biuret-corn meal, urea-corn meal and cottonseed meal fed as sources of supplementary nitrogen in a conventional finishing diet. Average daily gains for the combined trials were: 1.11, 1.10 and 1.09 kg for the three supplemented groups, respectively. Carcass characteristics for all groups were very similar.

¹ Appreciation is expressed to the Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Michigan 48640 for supplying the biuret and mineral mixtures used in these studies.

² Ruminant Nutrition Laboratory, Nutrition Institute, A.R.S., U.S.D.A., Beltsville, Maryland 20705.

³ Beef Cattle Research Station, A.R.S., U.S.D.A., Brooksville, Florida 33512.

⁴ Animal Science Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32601.

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