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Conserved Pasture Crops for Finishing Beef Cattle¹

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705

Abstract

Beef cattle can be finished at high-Good to low-Choice grades on harvested high-quality forage, but the feeding period generally is longer and the dressing percentage lower than when concentrates are fed. Finely chopped or ground high-quality forage is necessary for maximum intake and hence maximum rate of gain by cattle finished on forage. Cattle appear to gain faster on hay than on silage diets, but this comparison is tenuous because higher quality forages have been used more commonly with hay studies than with silage studies. Supplementing silage diets with hay or supplementing either silage or hay diets with concentrates increased rate of gain. Hormonal implants and dietary monensin greatly increased rates of gain of cattle finished on forage diets. Gain in response to dietary lipid supplementation in forage diets has been inconsistent.

¹ Invitational paper presented as part of the Symposium on Pastures and Forages held during the Annual Meeting of the ASAS at Madison, WI, July 23 to 27, 1977.

² Ruminant Nutrition Laboratory, Nutrition Institute, S.E.A., Beltsville, MD 20705.