What do feedlots feed cattle

Bacteria and protozoa that reside in cattle's stomach make it possible to release nutrients from fibrous feeds that can be utilized by the animal. Unlike most other animals, cattle can consume byproduct feeds like corn gluten, distiller's grains, brewer's grains, potato chips, soybean hulls, citrus pulp and other products that are considered waste products.

Cattle are also fed protein sources, such as soybean meal, canola meal, alfalfa and urea, and cereal grains such as corn, sorghum, barley, wheat, and oats. Generally, feedlot cattle are fed predominantly high quality fibrous diets early in their growth periods and high-energy cereal grain diets during the finishing periods. The breeding herd commonly grazes fibrous forages from pastureland, rangeland and from field residues, such as corn stalks. A mature cow consumes about 5 tons of fibrous feed forages per year.

Beef cattle consume feeds that range from high quality cereal grains such as corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, sorghum, etc. On the Ask A Farmer tab , there is a contact form where you can submit your questions. A few weeks ago, I shared a little about feeding corn to cattle. Turns out, corn and other cereal grains are a great source of energy in cattle diets. We wean most beef cattle around 7 months of age, followed by time in the backgrounding or stockering phase of cattle production.

During this phase, the primary focus is the growth of bone and muscle tissue, development of the immune system function, and efficient gains on a diet of primarily forages. The stocker phase of cattle production utilizes mostly pasture where cattle graze grasses and other forages.

It is important to introduce cattle to eating feed out of a bunk before transitioning to the final feeding phase. Many farmers will begin the transition in the diet of stocker cattle by introducing grains or grain by-products. Most cattle entering the feedlot are around pounds or larger and near a year of age or older. When cattle enter the feedlot, they receive vaccinations, ear-tags to match their pen and start eating a high-forage grasses and legumes diet.

Cattle remain on feed for roughly months on average and will finish around or above 1, pounds. Finished meaning the group of cattle has met the desired carcass composition to meet meat quality goals.

The feedlots where I have worked started their cattle rations with high-quality forage. This can be something like alfalfa or wheat hay. As the cattle increase intake, they transition to a higher-energy diet. The goal of finish feeding in the feedlot is to provide a diet high in energy that is readily available for digestion.

Corn is the predominant grain used because it is a great source of starch carbohydrates utilized for energy. Other grains used include oats, barley, sorghum, distillers brewers grains, and by-products of numerous grain and fiber milling processes. Important minerals and vitamins to consider when formulating a feedlot ration include phosphorus, calcium, sulphur, potassium, sodium, vitamin A and E and other trace elements. To assess the crude protein level of a formulated ration, specific calculations are made to attain the combined contribution from all ingredients within the ration.

Adjustments may need to be made to the ration to exactly meet the requirements. Premix ingredients additives are usually batched separately in feed bays or silos and then added to the diet. Opportunity lot-feeders usually buy commercial premixed additives which avoids having to mix their own additives. The following is an example sorghum based diet, outlining the amount required for each commodity to 1,kg of ration.

The following table further outlines the composition of the sorghum based diet, including the percentage of crude protein content. Contact the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Customer Service Centre on 13 25 23 Queensland residents or 07 non-Queensland residents between 8am and 6pm weekdays, or email callweb daf. FutureBeef Knowledge centre articles Diet formulations Print. In this section Knowledge centre articles Document library Tools and services Projects Industry newsletters.

Diet formulations Page published: September 16, Page reviewed: March 26,