Evaluation of Wet Distillers Grains for Finishing Cattle

A feeding trial was conducted with 870-lb steers fed 137 days to evaluate replacing cracked corn with dry and wet distillers grains with solubles (DGS) as feed for finishing cattle. Dry DGS was evaluated at 16% of diet dry matter. Wet DGS (WDGS) was evaluated at 14.6%, 26.2%, and 37.5% of diet dry matter. Control diets were supplemented with urea or a combination of urea and soybean meal. Feeding 16% dry DGS or 14.6% wet DGS increased rate of gain and tended to increase carcass fatness. Increasing the amount of wet DGS in the diet decreased feed intake, reduced gain, and improved feed conversion. The calculated net energy for gain values for dry and wet DGS were .92 and 1.5 times the energy value of corn grain. Economic returns declined slightly as the percentage of wet DGS increased in the diet, but remained above the two diets without DGS. The average benefits from feeding wet DGS averaged $25, $21, and $19 per head for steers fed 14.6%, 26.2%, and 35.7%, respectively, based on a formula price for wet DGS related to price of corn and including a charge for transportation of the wet feed.

Use of Ultrasound Backfat Estimates to Form Marketing Groups Prior to Finishing for Feedlot Steers

An experiment was conducted using 95 Continental crossbred steers. The cattle were sorted by ultrasound 160 days before slaughter into a low backfat group (Low BF) and a higher backfat group (High BF). Half of the Low BF and half of the High BF were implanted whereas the other halves were not. Data from the experiment were used in two hypothetical markets. One market was a high yield beef program (HY) that did not allow the use of implants. The second market was a commodity beef program (CM) that allowed the use of implants. The cattle were priced as an unsorted group (ALL) and two sorted groups (Low BF and High BF) within the HY (non-implanted) and CM (implanted) markets. The CM program had a base price of $1.05/lb hot carcass weight (HCW) with a $0.15/lb HCW discount for quality grade (QG) Select and a $0.20/lb HCW discount for yield grade (YG) 4. The HY program used a base price of $1.07/lb HCW with premiums ($/lb HCW) paid for YG £ .9 (.15), 1.0 - 1.4 (.10), and 1.5 - 1.9 (.03). The carcasses were discounted ($/lb HCW) for YG 2.5 - 2.9 (.03), 3.0 - 3.9 (.15), and ³ 4.0 (.35). This data set provides good evidence that the end point at which to sell a group of cattle depends on the particular market. Sorting had an economic advantage over ALL in the HY Low BF and the CM High BF groups. The HY High BF cattle should have been sold sooner due to the discounts recieved for increased YG. The increased YG was directly affected by an increase in BF. Furthermore, the CM Low BF group should have been fed longer to increase the number of carcasses grading Choice.