Beet Pulp Supplementation of Heifers Grazing
Native Flood Meadow
David W. Bohnert and Christopher. S. Schauer
Introduction
It has been suggested that low
levels of energy supplementation using starch-based supplements (corn,
barley, wheat, etc.) can enhance the
average daily weight gain of cattle
grazing forage in an early vegetative state. However, past research
has indicated supplementation of
cracked corn to beef heifers grazing
early-season native flood meadow
doesn’t increase average daily gain
(ADG) over unsupplemented heifers. Another form of energy supplementation is fermentable fiber.
Sources of readily fermentable fiber,
such as beet pulp, soybean hulls, and
wheat midds, offer an alternative
to starch-based supplements. It has
been proposed that high-fiber energy
supplements do not elicit the negative ruminal effects often associated
with starch supplements. Therefore,
the objective of this research was to
determine the influence of increasing amounts of beet pulp on the
performance and diet digestibility
of beef heifers grazing early-season
native flood meadow pasture.
Sixty-four Angus × Hereford heifers were provided 0.00, 0.55, 1.11,
or 1.65 lb/day of dried beet pulp for
84 days beginning May 5, 2000.
Heifers weighed approximately 630
lb at the beginning of the experiment. We measured heifer average
daily weight gain and quality of
standing forage for the duration of
the experiment.
Standing forage increased as grazing season progressed while diet
quality decreased. However, diet
quality throughout the experiment
was greater than or similar to beet
pulp and was sufficient to support
excellent gains as demonstrated by
the unsupplemented heifers (Table
1). It is probable that nutrient intake
by heifers was not increased due to
beet pulp supplementation; therefore, supplementation provided little
to no benefit while increasing feed
costs.
Results and Discussion
Management Implications
Experimental Protocol
Heifer ADG (2.45, 2.38, 2.29, and
2.38 lb/day for 0.00, 0.55, 1.10, and
1.65 lb/day of dried beet pulp, respectively) was not affected by beet
pulp supplementation. This agrees
with previous work in which heifers
grazing early-season native flood
meadow and supplemented with increasing levels of cracked corn did
not improve ADG compared with
unsupplemented heifers.
Beet pulp supplementation of
growing beef heifers grazing earlyseason native flood meadow does
not influence animal performance.
Therefore, beet pulp supplementation is not an economical option
to include in grazing management
plans for growing ruminants consuming high-quality native flood
meadow pasture.
Table 1. Quantity and quality of standing forage in flood meadow pastures
during beet pulp supplementation.
Item
Standing forage, lb/acre
Forage quality, %
Crude protein (CP)
Neutral detergent fiber
(NDF)
Acid detergent fiber
(ADF)
May 5
Day of study (2000)
June 2 June 30
July 28
905
1,268
2,106
1,862
23
44
18
49
15
53
12
58
23
25
29
30
42