USE IN FEEDLOT CATTLE
Combinations of co-products

With the large expansion of ethanol plants in the Midwest, an option for many feedlots will be utilizing both WDGS and WCGF concurrently. In addition to their commercial availability, another reason for feeding a combination of WDGS and WCGF is their nutritional profiles. Complementary effects in feeding a combination of these co-products might be expected because of differences in fat, effective fiber, and protein components. Loza et al. (2004) fed yearling steers a 50:50 blend of WDGS and WCGF (DM basis) at inclusion levels of 0, 25, 50, and 75% DM. All inclusion levels of the blend were evaluated with 7.5% alfalfa hay in the diets.

Additional treatments were also evaluated using a lower alfalfa level with each of the co-product diets, decreasing the forage inclusion as the rate of inclusion of co-products in the diets increased (i.e. 25% blend had 5% alfalfa in the lower forage treatment, 75% blend had 0% alfalfa in the lower forage treatment). Results indicated that there were no differences in cattle performance between forage levels for each co-products blend level.The lack of differences in performance with decreasing forage would indicate that the co-products inclusion was enough to prevent the negative consequences of sub-acute acidosis (Table 12). The analysis of the pooled data from each co-products level indicated that the performance of the steers fed the maximum co-products level (75%), regardless of the forage level, was not different than a typical corn-based diet (0% co-products blend). However, the diets including a 25 and 50% blend of WDGS and WCGF resulted in significantly better animal performances than the control.

Buckner et al. (2007a) fed the same combination at 30 or 60% dietary DM compared to feeding the co-products alone at 30% dietary DM or a 0% co-products diet.The 30% WDGS diet gave the best performance. However, feeding WCGF or WDGS in a blend (1:1 DM basis) or alone improved performance over control fed cattle. A second trial by Loza et al. (2005) compared a 0% co-products diet to six other diets containing a constant amount of WCGF (30% diet DM) and additions of WDGS at 0, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30% diet DM. Including WDGS at 15 to 20% of the diet with 30% WCGF had the greatest ADG. This research agrees with Buckner et al. (2007a) in that the 30% WCGF plus 30% WDGS gave better performance than the corn-based control diet. These three studies demonstrate that high levels of co-products, when fed in combination, can be fed to feedlot cattle without reducing performance compared to corn-based control diets.

Feeding a combination of WDGS and WCGF can also serve as a management tool. A major challenge facing some ethanol plants is not having co-products available for cattle feeders on a consistent basis. Cattle do not respond well if either WDGS or WCGF, as a sole co-product in the diet, are removed and replaced with corn abruptly. Therefore, one approach would be to feed a combination to ensure that at least one co-product is consistently in the ration.

For more information or to request additional copies of this manual, contact the Nebraska Corn Board at 1-800-632-6761 or e-mail k.brunkhorst@necorn.state.ne.us.

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For more information on the feeding of corn milling co-products to beef cattle
and information contained in this manual, contact:
Dr. Galen Erickson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Animal Science Room C220, Lincoln, NE 68583-0908, 402-472-6402

Date published: August, 2007