USDA nutritionists put beef under
BELTSVILLE, Md. - Cattle
inside glass isolation chambers are
providing new information about
how beef cattle of different body
types utilize their food, said
Gordon Haaland, -a research
nutritionist with USDA’s
Agricultural Research Service.
At the recent meeting of the
American Society of Animal
Science, Haaland reported on four
Angus and four Holstein steers
kept in air-conditioned chambers
for up to fourteen days. Their body
functions are electronically
measured and their feed rations
strictly monitored.
Haaland fed Angus and Holstein
steers, weighing 992-1,257 pounds,
diets containing either 12 or 15
percent crude protein. He found
Angus steers retamed more energy
in the form of body tissue than
Holstein steers. The requirement
for maintenance of body weight by
Angus steers was lower than that
for Holstein steers. Most of the
difference was due to increased fat
retention by Angus steers.
Digestibility of the feed and its
abibty to be metabolized, or
converted into useful energy, were
not affected by the breed of steers
consuming it. However, steers on
the higher protein diet converted
less calories to body tissue and had
increased calorie loss through the
urine. The digestibility of the feed
and the percent of feed
metabolized decreased as the
animals ate more feed, Haaland
said.
Haaland explained the steers
were fed a cracked-com-based
concentrate and corn silage
supplemented with soybean meal
to bring the protein content to
either 12 or 15 percent. These
rations were fed at body main
tenance (amount of energy intake
to maintain body weight) or free
choice
These animals had previously
been studied at an earlier stage of
maturity, weighing 496-771 pounds,
using the same feeding regimen.
At that time the digestibility of the
feed was increased among
Hosltem steers when protein
content was increased from 12 to 15
percent. By contrast, among
Angus steers, increasing the
To analyze
protein content by the same
amount did not increase its
digestibility.
However, in the present study,
digestibility did not increase'for
either breed as the protein content
of the feed was increased. Haaland
attributes this to the fact that at
this later maturity level the
Holstein steers did not convert
their energy intake to lean meat as
they had done earlier. He com
mented this further demonstrates
the need to relate feeding
schedules to conformation and
maturity of beef rattle
LEBANON A mid-August
seeding of winter rye will reduce
soil loss from cornfields over
winter, says Clair Gerbench,
manager, Lebanon County Con
servation District.
Winter rye gram aerial seeded
over standing corn during middle
to late August should produce a
nearly solid green cover within a
feed conversion L,nc " tef *"*!****• *“ IIKl8 ’
Conservationist urges cover cropping
Haaland said that, in these ex
periments, the steer is considered
as a factory that both uses and
stores energy. Food (energy) is the
raw material used by this factory
to produce protein or fat (both
represent tissue energy). Ex
cretion in various forms
respiratory products, urine, feces,
methane gas, and heat produced
by steers are all forms of energy
which are the waste products of
this factory. *
He said measurement of energy
utilized, lost and retained is an
few weeks. This will help retain
topsoil over winter and give good
support to harvesting equipment.
In addition this winter rye
produces a large fibrous root
system that will improve soil tilth.
Next spring the rye can be con
trolled with herbicide and corn can
be no-till planted into this cover.
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glass
efficient way of determining how a
steer utilizes its energy intake. It is
far more reliable, he said, than
measuring weight gain, which does
not differentiate between meat,
bone, and liquid weight.
Henry Tyrrell, a colleague of
Haaland at the Ruminant Nutrition
Laboratory m Beltsville, Md., said
the information gained in these
experiments will help cattle
producers formulate more
economical feeding schedules to
produce cattle of a desired weight
and grade.
Without a good cover crop on the
bare soil over winter severe
erosion can occur, notes Ger
bench. Annual topsoil losses of 10
to 12 tons per acre are common.
Conservationists estimate the
value of this top soil loss which
includes fertilizer, lime, her
bicides, and pesticides can run as
high as |75 per acre per year.