Author
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Phillips, William |
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Brown, Michael |
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Submitted to: American Society of Animal Science Southern Section Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/1997 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Grazing warm season perennial grasses with stocker cattle is not economically stable. The objective of this experiment was to determine feed intake, rate of gain, carcass characteristics of feeders of four different genotypes fed in confinement or on grass with a self-feeder. Eighty-two feeder calves sired by Hereford bulls and reared by dams of different Angus (A) and Brahman (B) combinations (AXA, AXB, BXA or BXB) were weaned in the fall, shipped from Booneville, AR to El Reno, OK, and used as stockers to graze cool and warm season grasses until early summer. The feeders, now over 12 months of age, were blocked by sex and genotype and randomly assigned to one of two finishing systems. All calves were fed a high concentrate diet, but half of the calves were fed in a conventional confinement feeding system (FEEDLOT), while the other half were fed on Old World Bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum L.) pastures (GRASS) at a stocking rate of 9.9 hd/ha with self-feeders containing the same diet as fed in confinement. Feeders fed on GRASS were heavier (P<.10) at the end of the feeding period (535 vs 521 kg) and yielded heavier (P<.05) carcasses (333 vs 324 kg) than those fed in FEEDLOT. The ribeye area was larger (P<.10) in the GRASS group, but marbling scores and yield grade were not affected (P>.10) by feeding method. Although feed intake was not different (P>.10) between feeding methods, feeders on GRASS consumed 60.8 kg/hd less feed than feeders in the FEEDLOT group. When feed intake is multiplied by stocking rate, feeding on grass saved 602 kg of feed per ha. Yearling feeders of different genotypes can be finished on perennial warm season grass pastures during the summer as efficiently as in confinement feeding. |
