|
Malting Barley Co-products or Wheat Midds in Corn-based Diets for Growing
Yearling Steers
V.L. Anderson and E.J. Bock
heat
and barley are the most common feed grains in the Northern Plains states.
Value added processing of these grains is increasing to generate more
income for grain growers. Barley is used to produce malt, resulting in a palatable and
nutritious co-product referred to as sprouts.
Wheat is milled for flour or semolina resulting in an abundant supply of
wheat middlings or midds. A feeding
trial compared these two co-product feeds in growing diets for feedlot steers
when fed in combination with corn.
Forty-two
steer calves were allotted to four pens and fed diets containing malt sprouts or
wheat midds in a corn-based diet that was approximately 61% concentrate.
Dry matter intake was similar for both treatments, however gains were 11%
greater for wheat midds vs. malt sprouts (3.43 lbs. vs. 3.09 lbs., respectively)
leading to a 10% increase in feed efficiency (5.45 lbs. dry matter/lb gain vs.
6.02, respectively).
The higher fiber fraction of malt sprouts suggests lower digestibility,
which would explain the lower daily gain and feed efficiency.
The respective pricing of these feeds would indicate where each could be
most profitably used.
Barley malt sprouts appear to be a palatable, low-cost feedstuff that can
be readily utilized in growing diets.
Overall, both diets yielded results that were satisfactory for steers fed
a growing diet.
More research may be needed to enhance the nutrient harvest from barley
sprout pellets. h
|