M.S. Gadberry

Effect of Cottonseed Cake Supplementation Rate and Stocking Rate on the Growth Performance of Summer Stockers

ABSTRACT Seventy-two steers (291 kg; SD = 31.4) were allocated to one of eighteen 0.81-ha bermudagrass ( Cynodon dactylon L.) pastures to study the effects of stocking rate and cottonseed cake supplementation. Pastures were assigned to 1 of 3 stocking rates (SR: 3.7, 4.9, or 6.2 calves/ha) and 1 of 3 cottonseed cake supplementation rates (CCR: 0, 0.3, or 0.6% BW, as fed). Poor summer growth resulted in early termination of 9 pastures; however, the number of grazing days did not differ among SR ( P = 0.34), CCR ( P = 0.47), or their combination ( P = 0.81). There were no interactions ( P > 0.10) between SR and CCR for any BW response. Average daily gain followed CCR linearly ( P P = 0.04) to CCR. The 0.3% CCR pastures produced 140 kg/ha more BW than 0% CCR, whereas 0.6% CCR pastures produced 19 kg/ha more BW compared with 0.3% CCR. Supplemental feed efficiency tended ( P = 0.09) to be greater for 0.3% CCR. Increasing SR resulted in a linear reduction in forage allowance ( P P = 0.41), BW gain per hectare increased linearly ( P = 0.003) and was greatest at 6.2 calves/ha. In conclusion, supplementation resulted in similar performance gains across all SR. Supplementing at 0.3% BW was most efficient, and 6.2 calves/ha maximized BW gain per hectare.

CASE STUDY: Effect of grazing, stage of maturity at harvest, and glycerol treatment on wheat harvested as silage

ABSTRACT The objective of this project was to examine the effect of grazing restriction, stage of maturity at harvest, and addition of glycerol to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) harvested as silage. The project design was a split-split plot, and the first treatment level was nongrazed wheat compared with wheat grazed just before first hollow stem. The secondary treatment structure was harvesting the wheat at anthesis versus soft dough maturity. The third treatment structure was applying glycerol to the wheat at 0, 5, 10, or 15% of DM before ensiling. Nongrazed wheat produced more yield than did grazed wheat (P = 0.04), and harvesting at soft dough produced more yield than did harvesting at anthesis (P