PSXIII-24 - Is it possible to finish beef cattle in feedlot and be environmentally friendly?

To improve production without affecting the environment, the objective of this research was to evaluate a natural additive to replace the conventional growth promoters in finishing beef cattle diets. 160 Nellore bulls were assigned into two treatments, where the only difference was the additive used: natural additive (Fator P - 600 mg/kg DM) and conventional growth promoters (25 mg/kg DM of monensin + 20 mg/kg DM of virginiamycin). The Fator P® is an organic additive certificated by IBD, which is a blend of the compounds; amino acids (lysine, methionine, and tyrosine), choline, minerals, probiotics and essential fatty acids (omega 3 and omega 6). The diet contained 14% CP and 76% TDN. Nellore young bulls (n = 160), weighing 433 ± 7 kg, with an average age of 24 months, were used. The feedlot facilities contained 16 collective pens, in which 10 animals were allocated. The animal performance was evaluated for 84 days, with 21 days of adaptation. Means were compared with 5% of significance. The conventional growth promoters reduced the dry matter intake. Natural 11.33 kg/day and 10.9 kg/day for the conventional. The conventional growth promoters reduced in 0.43 kg of dry matter intake (P = 0.042) or 0.1% of body weight (P = 0.001; 2.26% to 2.16%). No difference in average daily gain (P = 0.58). 1.655 kg/day for natural and 1.625 for the conventional. The feed efficiency ratio wasn’t different (P = 0.71), natural 146 g / kgMSˉ¹ and 148 g / kgMSˉ¹ for conventional. There were no difference in carcass yield (P = 0.89), mean 56.3%. The natural additives can improve the dry matter intake and can be used as an alternative to antibiotics in high concentrate diets for beef cattle in feedlot system. Thus, finishing beef cattle in the feedlot can be environmentally friendly.