Executive Edge

Gate Cuts

Paul Walker, DI Walker Consulting

Preconditioning and Receiving Diets

I have spent a lifetime feeding cattle. I began feeding show steers around 16 years of age in 1966 — before that my feeding program was whatever my father told me to feed. I spent 33 years teaching nutrition and cattle management classes and conducting beef cattle nutrition research. I have enjoyed writing nutrition articles and providing nutrition consultation for feedlots and cow-calf producers for 45 years.

I write this prelude to state the following: the longer I feed cattle the more I realize that starch in creep diets, preconditioning diets and receiving diets is our enemy, not our friend, and the primary source of starch in these cattle diets is shelled corn or the corn grain in corn silage.

High starch intake leads to lower rumen pH values and eventually to rumen acidosis. Rumen acidosis results in variable feed intake, cattle going “off-feed” and sometimes founder. In preconditioning diets and in receiving diets, lower rumen pH values, rumen acidosis and variable feed intake can increase morbidity — respiratory illness, increased antibiotic treatment, etc. — and sometimes can increase mortality. Even in feedlot finishing diets, increased starch content — shelled corn inclusion above 45% dry matter intake — can, and does, often lower rumen pH, increase rumen acidosis, increase intake variability, especially at heavier weights, and may tend to limit harvest weight by decreasing the length of time cattle can be fed. One of the primary reasons we can feed cattle to 1400 – 1500 lb. harvest weights is due to increased distiller’s grains (DSG) inclusion rates in finishing diets. Feeding DGS at inclusion rates up to 45% of the diet dry matter (DM) minimizes starch intake, improves rumen health and results in similar average daily gains, feed efficiency and carcass cutouts as higher shelled corn (SC) inclusion rates.

Research we conducted years ago at Illinois State University observed that steers fed receiving diets containing DGS, soyhulls and/or wheat minds had reduced morbidity and lower mortalities than steers fed receiving diets containing higher levels of shelled corn. My favorite preconditioning diet and receiving diet is composed of a concentrate containing 50 percent corn gluten feed (CGF) and 50 percent soybean hulls (SH) fed with free choice consumption of grass hay. If a TMR is utilized, small grain haylage can substitute for long stem grass hay. I am a fan of utilizing the cover crop cereal rye harvested as ryelage for use in these diets. The CGF/SH concentrate (Table 1) contains 17.3% crude protein (CP) and 1.21 mcal per lb of ME, more than enough to meet the requirements — 15.2 percent CP and 1.18 mcal of ME — for a 400 lb. steer gaining 3.0 lb. per day. A CGF/SH diet will meet the calf’s P and K requirements but will not meet the Calcium requirement. Therefore, any premix added to the ration should contain added Calcium. An important point to consider regarding this diet is it costs only $8.75 per lb. Any diet containing SC will cost more. Table 2 shows that on July 15 when I wrote this article, SC cost $12.18 per lb. of DM when SC was priced at $6.00 per bu. Another important point shown in Table 2 is that DDGS is almost always too expensive to include in cattle diets when compared to other feedstuffs such as CGF, SH, MWDGS, WDGS and even SC.

If the diet you are currently using to precondition calves prior to weaning, or the diet you currently utilize as a receiving diet cost more than the CGF/SH concentrate shown in Table 1, you can do better, or utilize a more effective diet. Regarding the use of corn silage in receiving diets, today’s corn silage contains more corn grain than the corn silage we fed 30 to 50 years ago. A typical yield today of 240 bu. of corn grain at 24 tons of corn silage per acre results in 10 bu. of corn grain per ton of corn silage. Compare this to 125 bu. of corn grain and 20 tons of corn silage per acre in 1975 resulting in 6.25 bu. of corn grain per ton of corn silage. That can be a good thing as corn grain increases the energy density of corn silage. However, a receiving diet using corn silage as part of the daily ration results in higher total starch content of the diet, and calves are great sorters. Calves can sort the corn grain from the silage at the bunk, so one calf may consume more corn grain than the next calf. This results in ration variability. Ration variability results in rumen acidosis and what comes with it. Increased starch content of corn silage results in rumen acidosis and what comes with it too. Therefore, my recommendation is to avoid corn silage in receiving diets, which is at least the first 28 days in the feedlot. Actually, my recommendation is to avoid corn silage in the diet of incoming calves for the first 60 days

ITEM

TABLE 1: COMPOSITION OF CGF AND SH DIET (DM BASIS) ME CP Ca P L COST:LB (Mcal:lb) (%) (%) (%) (%) (cents)

1.36 25.6 0.36 0.82 0.64 10 SH 1.05 9 0.49 0.21 1.27 7.5 Calf Requirement (% of diet) 1.18 15.2 0.76 0.33 0.65 CGF + SH / 50:50 ratio 1.21 17.3 0.43 0.52 0.96 7.75

in the feedlot.

Feedstuffs such as DGS, CGF, SH and small grain haylage contain relatively little soluble starch compared to corn grain. While corn silage on a total basis contains relatively little starch, young calves can separate the corn grain from the forage material at the bunk, resulting in individual calves eating too much starch. The great thing about feeding cattle is we have so many feedstuffs we can utilize - just one of the things that makes the cup half full and rising.

TABLE 2: COST OF FEEDSTUFFS JULY 15, 2022

FEEDSTUFF

COST:LB/DM PRICE:UNIT MOISTURE (cents) ($) (%)

DDGS 12.72 229:ton 10 MWDGS 7 70:ton 50 WDGS 7.14 50:ton 65 OATS 15.52 4.47:bu 12 CGF 11.11 200:ton 10 SH 8.33 150:ton 10 SC 12.18 6.00:bu 12 DDGS = dried distillers grains with solubles DM = dry matter MWDGS = modified wet distillers grains with solubles SH = soybean hulls WDGS = wet distillers grains with solubles SC = shelled corn

(217) 824-2815

stephenstrailers@yahoo.com www.stephenstrailers.com

The Heartland Beef Association hosted their annual industry tours on July 22. Twenty Heartland Beef members participated in tours to Interglobe Sire Services and the Illinois State Univeristy Beef Farm.

Crossroads Beef Producers hosted their 6th Annual Taste of Beef event at the Effingham County Fair on August 3. Nearly 100 lbs of steak was cooked and sampled for fairgoers, 4-H kids, parents and auction buyers. They also hosted their summer meeting with The Equity on July 21st. It was a huge success with roughly 80 people in attendance. Henry County Beef Association assembled consumer education bags with a list of local producers, handouts on what to expect when buying beef directly from producers, information on specific cuts, and beef sticks. There were bags for kids, too! A grand prize of a $275 gift certificate was awarded to one winner to purchase beef.

Union County Cattlemen sponsored the beef show winners at the Union County Fair in Anna, Illinois. They awarded the grand and reserve grand champion heifer and steer exhibitors with monetary donations.

Tri-County Cattlemen hosted a summer beef tour that included tours at Grateful Graze and Staker Acres, a ribeye dinner and entertainment from Madd Hoss Jackson.