359 - Using an Extruded 100% Dried Distillers' Grains Cube to Intensify Production in a Stocker Grazing Enterprise on Native Range in Northwestern Oklahoma

Monday, June 27, 2022

1:50 PM – 2:05 PM CT

Location: Oklahoma City Convention Center, 207 A/B

Presenting Author(s)

ZG

Zane N. Grigsby

Graduate Research Assistant
Oklahoma State University
Amarillo, Texas

Author(s)

Stacey A. Gunter, PhD

Research Leader
USDA-ARS
Woodward, OK
Paul A. Beck, PhD

Associate Professor
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, Oklahoma

Abstract: A 2-year experiment was conducted at the USDA-ARS Southern Plains Experimental Range (SPER) near Fort Supply, OK to define the effects of supplementing steers grazing native range with extruded 100% dried distillers' grains (DDGS) cubes. Each year 126 steers (259 ± 43 kg) grazed from late May to late September allocated to 3 treatments: 1) negative control (NC) stocked at 2.4 ha/steer with ad libitum mineral only, 2) positive control (PC), supplemented with 1.8 kg/steer on alternate days during the late summer stocked at 2.4 ha/steer, and 3) high supplement (HS) fed 0.75% BW supplemental DDGS cubes all season stocked at 1.6 ha/steer. Data were analyzed across years using PROC MIXED in SAS as a complete block design using year as the random block and pasture within treatment by year as the error term. Early season ADG and BW gains for HS were 0.30 ± 0.031 kg and 20 ± 2.1 kg greater (P < 0.01) than NC and PC, respectively. However, late season ADG for HS and PC steers were 0.34 ± 0.08 and 0.36 ± 0.08 kg greater (P < 0.01) than NC. Late season BW gains for HS and PC did not differ (P ≥ 0.76) but were 22.3 ± 5.3 and 23.9 ± 5.4 kg greater than NC, respectively. Hence, overall ADG, total BW gain, and BW gain/ha for HS were 0.32 ± 0.04, 0.14 ± 0.04; 42 ± 5.4, 18 ± 5.4; and 53 ± 2.2, 42 ± 2.2 kg greater (P < 0.01) than NC and PC, respectively. Supplementing 100% DDGS cubes during summer grazing is an effective management option to increase stocking rates without negatively impacting individual animal performance, and increasing gain/hectare.