Comparison of Feeding Dry Distillers Grains in a Bunk or on the Ground to Cattle Grazing Subirrigated Meadow

Authors

Jacqueline A. Musgrave, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
L. Aaron Stalker, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Terry J. Klopfenstein Klopfenstein, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Jerry D. Volesky, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2012

Comments

Published in 2012 Beef Cattle Report (2012) p. 51-52. Copyright © 2012 The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare feeding dry distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) in a bunk or on the ground to cattle grazing subirrigated meadow. Steers fed in a bunk had greater ADG than steers fed on the ground (1.19 vs. 0.92 lb). The NRC (1996) was used to retrospectively calculate the DDGS intake difference between treatments. For steers fed in a bunk, a reduction in DDGS intake between 0.8 and 0.9 lb/day would have resulted in a 0.27 lb/day reduction in ADG, which means 36-41% of the DDGS fed on the ground was wasted. At $200 (DMB) per ton for DDGS, the cost of the wasted distillers grains was between $0.08 and $0.09 per day.