Types of Feed for Beef Cattle

Corn

• Corn figures in large part in the feed of certain types of beef cattle, such as backgrounding and finishing steers and heifers. In one feeding scheme, steers are fed 2,250 lbs of corn over the course of 212 days. Backgrounding refers to the pasturing of young cattle in preparation for the feedlot, while finishing involves feeding the cattle during the latter months before processing. Corn may be given to cattle in whole or ground dry-shelled form. Mixing corn with other grains like milo reduces acidosis and improves feed efficiency. Some beef cattle on specified feeding systems receive little to no corn, such as wheat-grazing steers and heifers, and eastern and western Kansas cattle on season-long grazing systems.

Sorghum Grain and Silage

• Sorghum makes up another large portion of the feed of certain beef cattle, and may be given in even larger quantities than any corn fed to the cattle. Sorghum may be given to the cattle as grain or silage, the latter which is moist fodder stored in silos. Wheat grazing steers and heifers receive 240 lbs of sorghum grain, also known as milo, over 120 days, and no sorghum silage, while backgrounding, and finishing steers and heifers receive both the grain and silage of sorghum in about equal proportions. The latter steers and heifers also receive corn and alfalfa hay in addition to sorghum, whereas the former do not.

Prairie and Alfalfa Hay

• Hay may be a relatively small or sizable part of the diet of beef cattle and is used in conjunction with other feeds, such as corn and sorghum. Proportionally, a finish yearling steer may receive 435 lbs of alfalfa hay compared to 1,855 lbs of corn and 1,235 lbs of sorghum grain over 141 days. When feeding hay to cattle, "Cattle Today" advises beginning with the hay alone for the first 12 hours, then placing the rest of the mixed ration on top of the hay. Placing the ration elsewhere results in the cattle eating too much of either hay or the mixed ration, leading to digestive problems.

Pasture

• In certain types of feeding systems, pasture and supplements may be the only types of feed that cattle receive. Depending on whether cattle are grazed season-long or early intensive, their days on pasture may be 75 or 150 days. Advocates of grass fed beef make the distinction between cattle that has been pastured their entire lives, as opposed to being grass-finished or grass-fed in the latter part of their lives. By the same token, cattle may have been grass-fed earlier in life, but then grain finished. Grain finished beef does not contain as many healthy conjugated linoleic acids and omega 3 fatty acids as do their grass finished counterparts.