Considerable variation exists among heifers in their ability to gain weight on moderate-quality forage, and this variation appears largely independent of performance on energy-dense diets, said David Lalman and Bailey Tomson, Oklahoma State University professors of animal and food sciences, in a letter called Cow-Calf Corner.
Simple measurements of forage-based weight gain, or well-designed development programs intended to challenge heifers to perform with minimal or no concentrate feed and become pregnant early in the breeding season may help identify heifers that are better suited for efficient, forage-based cow-calf production systems, the pair said.
SEARCHING FOR FEED EFFICIENCY
Substantial progress has been made recently in understanding biological and genetic sources of variation in feed efficiency of growing cattle consuming energy-dense, mixed diets during the post-weaning phase. Yet, much less is known about feed efficiency of cattle consuming moderate- to low-quality forage diets.
That is important because about 74% of the total feed required to produce beef comes from forage, they said. With increased heifer retention over the next few years, perhaps now is an opportune time to consider strategies for improving forage efficiency in replacement females.
Testing heifers and cows in “laboratory” conditions over several years, where test animals are fed diets of various qualities of hay and measuring weight gain has yielded some surprising results, they said.
Substantial phenotypic variation was observed within each contemporary group, the pair said. As an example, forage intake and weight gain for the 2024 weaned replacement heifers showed average daily forage intake ranged from nine to 19 pounds, while Average Daily Gain ranged from slight weight loss to gains of 1.6 pounds.
Heifers with unacceptable weight gain were seen in every group, their research showed. At the same time, many heifers exhibited moderate forage intake coupled with acceptable—or even exceptional—weight gain.
THE HYPOTHESIS
The working hypothesis is that heifers demonstrating moderate forage intake with acceptable growth will become more forage-efficient cows–one that is highly productive without consuming excessive amounts of forage, they said.
It testing whether cattle that rank high for weight gain when consuming an energy-dense diet (such as a bull-test diet) also rank high for gain when consuming forage, the pair said. To date, the answer appeared to be no.
Seven independent studies showed no statistically significant positive correlations between gain on concentrate-based diets and gain on forage-based diets, they said. In fact, the average correlation across studies was near zero.
The encouraging news is that measuring forage-based growth performance is neither difficult nor expensive, they said. Producers need only a reliable scale and a 70- to 100-day period during which heifers are grazing moderate-quality forage (or consuming hay) with little or no supplementation.
In practice, some producers may already be selecting for forage performance—perhaps unintentionally, their report said. Low-input heifer development programs, short breeding seasons, and retaining only heifers that conceive early may naturally favor females that perform and reproduce efficiently on forage-based systems.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $228.00 per cwt to $234.75, compared with last week’s range of $226.55 to $231.21 per cwt. FOB dressed steers and heifers went for $359.10 per cwt to $363.90, compared with $358.31 to $363.53.
The USDA choice cutout Thursday was up $2.51 per cwt at $356.79 while select was up $2.78 at $352.06. The choice/select spread narrowed to $4.79 from $5.00 with 122 loads of fabricated product and 44 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA-listed the weighted average wholesale price for fresh 90% lean beef as $396.28 per cwt, and 50% beef was $137.79.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $0.90 to $1.10 a bushel over the Mar corn contract, which settled at $4.46, down $0.00 3/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Wednesday was $368.07 per cwt, up $4.92. This compares with Thursday’s Jan contract settlement of $362.47, up $2.87.