UTILIZATION OF
BT CORN FOR
BEEF CATTLE
Mark Antle
Department Of Agronomy
Penn Stale
Now that the use of Bt com
hybrids is increasing nation
wide, many questions have
been posed by beef producers
regarding the performance of
beef animals when fed diets
consisting of Bt com.
In response to some of these
concerns, two trials were per
formed by the University of
Nebraska in cooperation with
Novartis Seeds. The research
ers, J. D. Folmer, G. R Erick
son, C.T. Milton, T.J. Klopfs-
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NB2-J6 was the highest yielding hybrid
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season testing program
B
TUX NEWS
RESEHCH mtm
tein, and I.F. Beck, wanted to
determine if any animal perfor
mance differences existed
between two com varieties,
N 7333 and N 4242, and their Bt
counterparts. They also wanted
to determine whether a variety
difference played a role in ani
mal performance.
Thc first trial utilized fields
of N 7333 Bt and N 7333 non-Bt
postharvest com residue to eva
luate daily gain and grazing
preference. Twenty-three acres
of Bt and 21 acres of non-Bt
com fields woe each divided
into 3 pastures and stocked with
8 or 9 steers per pasture in order
to provide equal stocking rates.
Over a 70-day grazing per
iod, daily gains of the steers
were similar (.62 pound per
NB2-J6
INNOVATION DRIVES
PERFORMANCE
Hoffman Seeds, Inc.
144 Main Street
Landisville, PA 17538
(800) 776-7929
www.hoffmanseeds. com
day) between the Bt and non-Bt
pastures. Grazing preference
was evaluated by allowing 16
steers equal access to 7 acres of
Bt or non-Bt com residue. The
steers showed no preference for
either the Bt or non-Bt fields.
It should be pointed out that
there was very little com borer
pressure in either the Bt or non-
Bt fields. Ihe published results
of the trial did not provide
information on stalk quality,
but it could be surmised that
quality was similar for both
types of com residue.
In the second trial, 128 steers
(average weight 620 pounds)
were fed either Bt or non-Bt
com silage from either N 7333
or N 4242 for 101 days. Dry
matter intake averaged higher
for steers fed Bt com silage for
both varieties. Daily gain was
significantly higher for cattle
fed N 4242 Bt (3.3 pounds per
day) compared to N 4242 non-
Bt (3.0 pounds per day), but
was similar for N 7333 Bt com
pared to N 7333 non-Bt (2.9
pounds per day).
Feed efficiency was signific
antly higher for animals fed
N 7333 non-Bt compared to
N 7333 Bt, but similar for
N 4242 Bt vs. N 4242 non-Bt.
When comparing across the
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•Tali, leafy plant with excellent
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•Good drought tolerance shows in
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•Strong choice for full-season grain
and exceptional silage character
istics for southeast and south
central PA and south.
Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 29, 2000—Page
two varieties, overall the steers
gained 11 percent faster and 8
percent more efficiently on
N 4242 compared to N 7333.
Based on the results of the
trial performed at the Universi
ty of Nebraska, it appears that
the presence of the Bt trait in
Record Ethanol Production
Fred Stemme
Director Of Communications
Missouri Corn
Growers Association
According to the Energy
Information Administration
and the Renewable Fuels Asso
ciation (RFA), the domestic
fuel ethanol industry produced
an all-time record of 106,000
barrels per day in October
1999.
The previous record of
103,000 bushels per day was set
the previous October. Accord
ing to UFA, the production
increase was a response to new
market opportunities in refor
mulated gasoline markets
Set;
Record
Anticipated
com hybrids does not have a
consistent affect on perfor
mance of growing steers. The
study does support the popular
notion that hybrid genotype
plays an important role in ani
mal performance.
For Year
across the country, particularly
in California, the start-up of
new ethanol production facili
ties, and continued improve
ments in technology and pro
duction efficiencies.
“We are on the way to setting
a new record for annual fuel
ethanol production in 1999,”
said Eric Vaughn, RFA presi
dent. Production totals for 1999
through October exceed 1.22
billion gallons, and if produc
tion in November and Decem
ber reflects previous years’ pro
duction, the total for 1999 can
be expected to exceed 1.5 bil
lion gallons.
The two new Missouri etha
nol plants, under construction
by Missouri farmer-owned
cooperatives, will add to this
total by each producing approx
imately IS million gallons of
ethanol annually.
203