New Beef Feed Research
Published: Aug. 27, 2003
August 26, 2003
URBANA?Beef cattle nutrition research has a long and distinguished history at the University of Illinois but Department of Animal Sciences faculty will not be resting on those laurels as they begin projects in the new Beef/Sheep Facility on the South Farms. Much of the research will focus on the use of ethanol production by-products for feed, which has important implications for Illinois beef and corn producers.
?Our research has already determined that a cattle diet with as much as 50 percent distilled grain, when it is priced competitively with other sources, is an excellent feedstuff with a higher energy level than the original grain,? said Larry Berger, a U of I professor of ruminant nutrition.
Berger and other researchers note that the new Beef/Sheep facility has features that will allow more precise data collection. For instance, a computerized feeding system will allow researchers to know how much and when each animal eats, knowledge that is essential in determining how a given feed affects an animal?s growth rate.
?Our current facilities were constructed in the 1920s,? said Berger. ?There is no way to track the feed consumption of the animals on an individual basis. You have to do it by pens and average it out. It is not very sophisticated.?
In their time, though, the old facilities saw some major research breakthroughs. Over the years, U of I beef cattle research pioneered such things as using corn silage as feed, use of soybean products to fatten steers, developing classification standards for market cattle, and creating the first standards for beef cattle maintenance. In the last fifty years, research milestones include the use of high moisture corn in finishing diets, development of optimum genetic lines for efficient production, and altering fat composition in beef cattle.
On the nutrition side, most recent research has clustered around the idea of developing nutrition programs that maximize value for beef producers.
?Beef production is widespread in Illinois,? Berger said. ?We?ve got more beef cattle farms in Illinois than all of the other livestock species combined, but the units are small. Unlike the western states, we don?t have a few huge locations.?
But Illinois?s smaller operations are ideally suited to a more sustainable mode of production that utilizes corn and soybean production both for feed and land in which to recycle waste products safely.
Berger points out that some of the larger-producing beef cattle states like Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska, where large feedlots are located, have soils not suited for recycling nutrients. Illinois producers enjoy a clear competitive advantage in that area.
The new Beef/Sheep facility will feature four cattle barns, with each barn having 20 pens. Additionally, a feedlot operation will handle about 500 animals at a time. There will not be an increase in the total number of animals between the existing and new facilities.
?We?ll get a lot more information and a lot more individual observations, however, with the same number of animals because of the new facility?s features,? said Berger. ?And the information we obtain will be more revealing.?
Future research projects in the new Beef/Sheep Facility include utilization of the by-products of ethanol production by beef cattle, application of genomic discoveries that affect cattle performance, and identifying beef products and demand for alternative value-added markets.
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