ARS | Publication request: Effect of level of alfalfa hay in steam-flaked corn based diets containing 25% sorghum wet distiller's grains

Submitted to: Experiment Station Bulletins
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: September 1, 2008
Publication Date: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Increasing availability of wet distiller's grains (WDG) in the primary U.S. beef finishing region of the Central Plains has created a need for information related to the incorporation of diets that have been traditionally corn based. The energy value of the WDG is of primary importance. However, it is also necessary to elucidate other changes to ration formulation strategies when using WDG. It was previously assumed that roughage levels could be reduced in diets containing WDG because: 1) roughage is included in diets to control acidosis, 2) starch is a major cause of acidosis in finishing diets, and 3) WDG contains essentially no starch but is high in fiber. However, initial research in which dietary roughage concentrations were reduced in WDG-containing diets proved unsuccessful. One reason that roughage may not be able to be eliminated is that including WDG may not alleviate acidosis as previously thought. Therefore, it may be beneficial to increase roughage levels rather than decrease them. The objective of the current study was to determine the effects of roughage (alfalfa hay) inclusion rate on performance of beef cattle fed steam-flaked corn based finishing diets. In the study, 240 crossbred yearling steers (836 +/- 41 lb) were blocked by weight and used in a completely randomized design study. The control diet contained 10% alfalfa hay and no WDG. The treatment diets contained 25% WDG (from sorghum) and three concentrations of alfalfa hay (7.5%, 10%, or 12.5%). Inclusion of WDG in the diets tended to increase dry matter intake (P = 0.17), decrease average daily gain (P

Technical Abstract: Two hundred forty crossbred yearling steers (836 +/- 41 lb) were blocked by weight and used in a completely randomized design study intended to determine the effects of three levels of alfalfa hay (7.5%, 10%, and 12.5%) in steam-flaked corn (SFC) based finishing diets containing 25% wet distiller's grains (WDG) derived from sorghum. Inclusion of WDG tended to increase DMI (P = 0.17), reduce ADG (P