UNL's SHREDLAGE Beef Study

SHREDLAGE ® Provides Better Feeding Efficiency in Finishing Beef Cattle

It is becoming a well-known fact that SHREDLAGE ® corn silage, produced exclusively by the CLAAS JAGUAR forage harvester, increases milk production in dairy cattle.* Now, a new University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) study** shows that it also benefits beef cattle by improving gains and feeding efficiency.

In the study, cattle that were fed rations containing SHREDLAGE corn silage experienced a 2.9 percent greater average daily gain and a 4.4 percent greater feed-to-gain ratio when compared to control groups fed the percentage of conventionally chopped and processed silage.

Roughage is a necessary part of finishing diets for beef cattle, maintaining rumen function and reducing digestive upset. Since roughages are bulky and expensive, the search is on for ways to reduce the amount of roughage fed during the finishing period without causing a negative impact on the feedlot performance.

A team of researchers at UNL wanted to determine how adding SHREDLAGE as a roughage component to a steamflaked corn diet would affect finishing beef cattle. SHREDLAGE is an innovative conditioning process for long-chopped corn silage, exclusive to the CLAAS JAGUAR forage harvester.

Study details

Karla Jenkins, a University of Nebraska Cow/Calf Systems and Stocker Management Researcher, explains the study’s goals this way: “The hypothesis for this study was that if we could have a little larger particle size in the roughage, such as a silage type roughage, that possibly we could reduce the amount fed, which would then reduce the amount in the truck and increase the efficiency of feeding and still maintain rumen function for the animal.”

The 128-day study was conducted during the finishing period for beef cattle at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research Feedlot in Western Nebraska. In the study, final finishing diets contained 9 or 14 percent of either SHREDLAGE corn silage cut at 26.5 mm or conventionally chopped and processed corn silage cut at 13 mm. The diets also contained 15 percent wet distillers grains and 5 percent mineral supplement on a dry matter basis. The remainder of the diet dry matter came from steam-flaked corn.

CLAAS Product Manager Matt Jaynes explains, “All of the silage for the study came from the same irrigated field, harvested on the same day, and moisture and starch levels were the same. The SHREDLAGE was harvested by a JAGUAR 960 with an ORBIS 750 header.”

The cattle were fed a finishing diet containing:

• Steam flaked corn

• Processed corn silage

• 15% wet distillers grains

• 5% mineral supplement

The variable in the study was the corn silage. Four different groups of cattle were fed one of the following variables:

• 9% conventionally chopped corn silage

• 14% conventionally chopped corn silage

• 9% SHREDLAGE, or

• 14% SHREDLAGE

By chopping corn silage at lengths ranging from 21 to 30 millimeters and then shredding the chopped material with a special SHREDLAGE processor, the JAGUAR produces a silage with improved bacterial fermentation during ensiling, which results in greater digestion in the cow’s rumen.

The results

“The results of the study suggested that feeding 9% roughage in the diet and using a process that increases particle size, such as SHREDLAGE, actually increased performance in the cattle efficiency, as well as final product,” explains Jenkins.

In fact, this group showed a 7.4 percent greater feed-to-gain ratio and 5.4 percent better average daily gain than feed containing 14 percent conventionally chopped and processed corn silage. By reducing the amount of roughage needed, producers can save money while allowing the cows to metabolize more of the nutrition for greater weight gains during the finishing process.

“The big takeaway is that very little of the ration was corn silage,” says Jaynes, “but it still made a huge difference because cattle can turn SHREDLAGE into valuable nutrients more easily. So, producers can increase gains simply by providing a finishing diet that includes SHREDLAGE rather than conventionally chopped silage.”

*Carcass Basis

To learn more, visit tinyurl.com/shredlage-UNL

*The intensive processing of SHREDLAGE has been previously proven in dairy cows. A 2012 trial conducted by the University of Wisconsin showed that SHREDLAGE dramatically increases the physical effectiveness of corn silage in the rumen while improving availability of the starch contained in all parts of the plant. The result of the Wisconsin study was an increase of 2.4 pounds per cow in daily milk yield. For more information about the University of Wisconsin dairy study, visit https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/forage/files/2017/12/shredlage-pas-639.full_.pdf.

**Source: UNL Beef Watch “SHREDLAGE ® as a Roughage Component in Steam-flaked Corn Diets for Finishing Cattle.” Karla H. Jenkins, UNL Cow/Calf Systems and Stocker Management, October 1, 2018.