- Hay. Although hay provides the entire vital nutrient your beef cattle requires, you will have to pick it up during its peak nutrient-rich height.
- Grain Supplement. Grain supplements are an excellent alternative for beef cattle farmers with little or no access to quality hay and grazing pastures.
- Pasture & Forage. Forage & pasture also provides your beef cattle with all the necessary nutrients, especially when the soil is fertile for rich grass growth.
What are feed rations for finishing beef cattle?
Rations for finishing beef cattle are high energy rations designed to put gain on as rapidly and efficiently as possible. Beef cattle on finishing or full feed rations are typically allowed to eat as much as they can consume. An animal on full feed will eat approximately 85% of its ration as grain and the remaining 15% as forage.
What is the best feed for finishing calves?
Most finishing rations contain approximately 50% to 60% corn in the final diet, but high-quality digestible fiber byproduct feeds (such as corn gluten feed, soybean hulls and distiller’s grains) can be effectively used to finish calves, with the added benefit of improved safety margin for digestive upsets.
Is there a one-size-fits-all diet for finishing beef cattle?
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to finishing beef cattle, but it will be dependent on utilizing the most cost-effective alternatives available. Table 1 shows an example as-fed diet for an 1100 lb. steer.
How do you fatten up cattle?
Corn chop is another way of saying it. Typically finishing cattle are put on a ration of 85% grain and 15% roughage to fatten them up in 90 to 120 days. Ground up corn, more common in your area, is fed along with silage to have the cattle put on weight quickly.
What do you feed beef cattle before slaughter?
For finishing beef cattle prior to slaughter, most are fed a mixture of ground, shelled corn or millet. These grains are inexpensive, nutritious and add fat to the meat to make it tender.
What is the best thing to feed beef cattle?
Best Healthy Feed for Beef Cattle1) Grain Supplement. Grain can get cattle growing quickly and can help cattle get fat. ... 2) Hay. Hay can provide every important nutrient for cattle, but it has to be picked at the height of its nutrient richness À” that is, before it becomes too dry. ... 3) Pasture and Forage. ... 4) Concentrates.
What is a good finishing ration for steers?
Table 2. Rations for Growing and Finishing Steers, 600 to 800 poundsIngredientDiet 1Diet 2Corn, lbs/hd9.2711.81Soybeans, lbs/hd1.361.89Corn Silage, lbs/hd--Orchardgrass Hay, lbs/hd4.591.5311 more rows•Mar 2, 2021
What is a finishing diet?
The finishing period is when animals are fed an energy-dense diet so that they will grow rapidly and add muscle/meat to their frame and optimize fat cover in preparation for slaughter.
What is a good grain mix for beef cattle?
Corn, oats, and barley are the primary grains fed to cattle. Oats, which has a lower energy value due to its high fiber content, is considered the "safest" grain in regards to potential digestive disturbances.
What is the cheapest way to feed cattle?
“Corn residue is one of the lowest cost forages on a cost per pound of energy. That's why mixing a high energy and protein feed like distillers' grains with a low quality forage like corn stalks is so cost effective. Distillers' is often a low-cost source of both energy and protein.
Is cracked corn or whole corn better for cattle?
Even though corn can be fed whole with satisfactory results, cracking or rolling prior to feeding will increase digestibility by 5 to 10 percent. In most instances, grinding or rolling corn will not markedly improve average daily gain, but proper processing will improve feed conversion efficiency.
How much corn does it take to finish a steer?
Corn production requirements Depending on the size and weight of the cattle, the amount of forage available for growing lighter calves, access to low-priced byproducts and other factors, 50 to 80 bushels are typically required to finish one steer.
How much grain should a steer get per day?
The steer will consume roughly 15-20 pounds of hay per day or 2 percent of his body weight. Grain is added to the diet three months before taking the steer to the processor. The amount of time on feed can vary from 60-150 days. For a backyard steer, 90 days on grain should be sufficient.
When should you start finishing cattle?
The period of time needed to finish cattle will be dependent on multiple variables, including age of the animals and whether they are calf-feds or yearlings, and ration being fed. This time can range from 80-300 days.
Can you finish cattle on corn silage?
Feeding corn silage is not a new concept for finishing beef cattle. Most feedyards process corn silage to be fed as acroughage at low inclusions. In general, corn silage contains 50% forage and 50% grain and is commonly added at 5 to 15% of diet DM in finishing diets.
How long should you grain feed a cow before slaughter?
The Food and Drug Administration requires cattle to be implanted 100 days before slaughter and removal of hormone feeds from the ration 48 hours prior to slaughter.
How much grain should I feed my beef cow per day?
Cows will voluntarily consume about 2 percent of their body weight or 24 pounds per day. The 24 pounds is based on 100 percent dry matter.
Is Cracked corn good for cattle?
Corn can be fed whole with excellent results, but cracking or rolling it will increase digestibility by 5-10%. Although this improvement in digestibility can be important, it may not be enough to pay for the cost of processing the grain.
Feedbunk Management
Other factors that affect feedlot performance of beef cattle are management factors such as bunk management feeding frequency and feeder space. Ensure that feed bunks do not go empty for extended periods, Empty feed bunks can result in grain overloading when refilled, cattle go off feed, and days in the feeding program are lost.
Vitamins
Feedlot cattle require 20,000 to 30,000 IU Vitamin A/day. This can be provided by the addition of a vitamin A premix to the feed.
Selection
Calves selected for farm-raised beef vary in type. Budget, marketing niches and end product goals will determine the type of calf that works best. Small-framed dairy calves, like Jersey calves, can have exceptional meat quality; however, percent retail product and size of cuts, like ribeye steaks, will be fairly small.
General Facility Considerations
Shade and wind breaks. Finishing (forage- or grainfinishing) and marketing goals (personal use or sale) will determine the land and facilities needed. Whether finishing calves on pasture or in dry lot confinement, calves will be more comfortable if they have access to shade during summer and a wind break during winter.
Finishing Options
Forage- versus Grain-finishing. The objective here isn’t to start a grass- or grain-finished debate; there is room for both in a local farm-raised beef market. It is important to understand common characteristics of forage- versus grain-finished beef when deciding which option is best for beef produced on-farm for personal use or marketing.
Forage Finishing
Forage finishing capitalizes on the beef animal’s ability to convert forage into muscle protein through the aid of microbial breakdown of forage celluloses in the rumen. Since cattle are naturally grazing animals, some consumers seek out beef from cattle reared in their “natural environment”.
Grain Finishing in Confinement
While ruminants have the distinct ability to convert cellulose into muscle protein through ruminal microbial fermentation, there remains a history of fattening cattle on feedstuffs other than forage long before the establishment of the modern confinement feedlot industry.
Grain Finishing On Pasture
Hybrid systems have been studied as an alternative to high-concentrate total mixed rations fed in confinement. These systems utilize the roughage supplied by pasture along with additional energy from supplemental concentrates.
Live Weight to Retail Cuts
The final amount of retail cuts produced from a live calf will be affected by frame, muscle, bone, fat cover and gut capacity/fill. The first measure of yield is dressing percentage which is the percentage of carcass weight relative to live weight. Dressing percentage can range from 58% to 66%.
Starting a Beef Feeding Enterprise
Thorough planning and preparation are essential for you to have a successful beef-feeding operation.
Facilities
Various materials can be used for feedlot fences, including boards, wire panels, high-tensile wire, and steel cables. Barbed wire is not recommended. A seven- or nine-wire high-tensile fence is one of the most economical barriers.
Grazing and Backgrounding
Some cattle feeders purchase lightweight feeder calves (350 to 550 pounds), graze them during the spring and summer, and then finish them in the feedlot starting in late summer or fall. Backgrounding is a special type of program that usually combines pasture systems and lightweight cattle.
Purchasing Feeder Cattle
Anyone purchasing feeder cattle must keep up-to-date on market conditions. Graded feeder-calf sales are held in both fall and spring; some feedlot operators use cattle brokers and tele-auctions to obtain their feeder cattle. Feeder-cattle prices can fluctuate considerably in almost every season of the year.
Health Maintenance Program
Because preconditioned and heavier feeder cattle tend to have fewer health problems, purchasing preconditioned calves can be a good investment for the cattle feeder.
Nutrition
Cattle weighing 700 pounds or more should be fed a ration containing 11 percent crude protein in a ration composed of grain (usually corn, but barley and wheat are often also used), protein sources, and roughage.
Environmental Impacts
In the normal course of operations, farmers handle pesticides and other chemicals, may have manure to collect and spread, and use equipment to prepare fields and harvest crops. Any of these routine on-farm activities can be a potential source of surface water or groundwater pollution.
Nutrition
Table 1. Approximate daily water intake (gallons) for finishing cattle.
Health
Concepts of health and selection can be important in choosing an animal to put on feed. For producers who have been focused on selling calves at weaning, knowledge of genet-ics—specifically carcass merit—may not have been necessary in the past and may be unknown.
Implants and Ionophores
Beef production uses a variety of technologies to boost gain and improve efficiency. Two of those technologies commonly used in the finishing phase of beef production are implants and ionophores.
Starting A Beef Feeding Enterprise
Facilities
Grazing and Backgrounding
Purchasing Feeder Cattle
Health Maintenance Program
Nutrition
- Cattle weighing 700 pounds or more should be fed a ration containing 11 percent crude protein in a ration composed of grain (usually corn, but barley and wheat are often also used), protein sources, and roughage. Larger-framed cattle tend to require a ration with a higher percentage of grain to achieve the same carcass quality grade as cattle with ...
Environmental Impacts
Risk Management
Sample Budgets
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