I have had several conversations where folks assume that grain-finished cattle have little to no access to grass. That is not the complete truth and many are surprised to learn just how short the period is that those cattle remain in the feedlot. The majority of the animal’s life is on pasture.
Recently I have started a new series of posts, directly answering questions I receive from readers. On the Ask A Farmer tab, there is a contact form where you can submit your questions. A few weeks ago, I shared a little about feeding corn to cattle. Turns out, corn and other cereal grains are a great source of energy in cattle diets. Yesterday I started a series focused on the concerns surrounding cattle feedlots and CAFOs. Today we’ll address a few concerns about the cattle and what they eat.
How long are cattle kept in feedlots?
We wean most beef cattle around 7 months of age, followed by time in the backgrounding or stockering phase of cattle production. During this phase, the primary focus is the growth of bone and muscle tissue, development of the immune system function, and efficient gains on a diet of primarily forages.
The stocker phase of cattle production utilizes mostly pasture where cattle graze grasses and other forages. It is important to introduce cattle to eating feed out of a bunk before transitioning to the final feeding phase. Many farmers will begin the transition in the diet of stocker cattle by introducing grains or grain by-products.
Most cattle entering the feedlot are around 700-800 pounds or larger and near a year of age or older. When cattle enter the feedlot, they receive vaccinations, ear-tags to match their pen and start eating a high-forage (grasses and legumes) diet. Their diets slowly transition to 75-85% concentrates (grains, grain by-products, high-energy, low fiber feeds).
Cattle remain on feed for roughly 3-4 months on average and will finish around or above 1,200 pounds. Finished meaning the group of cattle has met the desired carcass composition to meet meat quality goals. Texas A&M University has a great fact sheet that describes carcass grading and Jenny Dewey shares great examples on her California Meat Locker blog.
What do feedlot cattle eat?
The feedlots where I have worked started their cattle rations with high-quality forage. This can be something like alfalfa or wheat hay. As the cattle increase intake, they transition to a higher-energy diet. The goal of finish feeding in the feedlot is to provide a diet high in energy that is readily available for digestion.
Corn is the predominant grain used because it is a great source of starch (carbohydrates) utilized for energy. Other grains used include oats, barley, sorghum, distillers (brewers) grains, and by-products of numerous grain and fiber milling processes. This is the concentrate portion of the ration.
Corn or wheat silage is a very common feed ration ingredient in cattle diets. It can account for the forage and concentrate portion of the diet. Silage (the entire plant – seed and stalk) is harvested in an earlier stage with higher moisture, then stored in an anaerobic environment (without oxygen) where fermentation occurs and breaks down the plant cell walls.
The grains are usually processed to make the starch (carbohydrates), protein, and other nutrients inside the kernel more readily available for digestion. The most popular method for corn is steam flaking – steam the corn to soften the kernel the roll it flat into a flake. Other methods include grinding or dry flaking.
We blend all of the feed ingredients and feed them to cattle 2 to 3 times per day depending on the operation.
Learning more about the feedlot
One of my favorite parts of working in the feedlot was to see the bunks filled with feed on a chilly morning, all the cattle lined up in a row, steam rolling off the freshly batched feed and the smell of fresh corn flakes. Always made me want to grab a bowl and spoon with a glass of milk!
You can continue learning about my experience working in cattle feedlots in other posts on the blog.
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