Benefits Of Beef.

 The best grass for beef cattle is what kind?

Americans consume more than 50 pounds of meat annually on average (according to USDA estimates). What do beef cattle consume, though? Beef cattle frequently consume tall fescue, a "cool-season" grass, in the eastern United States. 

As the name implies, cool-season grass thrives in temperate climates with high rainfall and temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the eastern United States does not constantly experience cool and damp weather, and in the summer, cool-season grasses typically perform poorly.

However, there are also "warm-season" grasses like bermudagrass and large bluestem. In the eastern United States, these grasses flourish in summertime climates that are hotter and dryer. "Cattle farmers can profit from having robust summer feed production from warm-season grasses," says Patrick Keyser, a researcher at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Such warm-season grasses can support their continued operations.

A recent study that evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of five warm-season forage types of grass was led by Keyser. Agronomy Journal published the study.

Different warm-season grasses were evaluated for their nutritional value by Keyser and colleagues. Three of the warm-season grasses evaluated in the study—eastern gamagrass, switchgrass, and a mix of big bluestem and Indian grass—were native grasses. 

Because there hasn't been as much research on these native grasses, Keyser explains why they were chosen. Although many cattle farmers in the eastern and southeastern United States may be less familiar with the local choices, they ultimately proved to be the most cost-effective.

And the research revealed an unexpected advantage of using local fodder. A specific type of fungus frequently lives in tall fescue. Although it coexists with grass, this fungus is capable of producing compounds that are poisonous to cattle. 

This fungus does not reside on warm-season grasses. Tall fescue toxicity hazards would be decreased by all five warm-season types of grass. However, ranchers may shift cattle off tall fescue up to 29 days earlier in spring using the three native choices than they could with bermudagrass.

The crew also kept an eye on the heifers' weight growth while they consumed the various types of grass. According to Keyser, "all the forages differed in significant ways." Depending on their ultimate objectives, different cattle producers will employ different warm-season grasses as feed. 

For instance, a mixture of large bluestem and indiangrass would be the optimum feed choice for cattle ranchers looking for calves to acquire weight quickly—important for grass finishing. On the other hand, switchgrass was a superior choice for farmers hoping for steady weight growth throughout the summer. In the end, Keyser adds, "We want to assist cattle producers to make knowledgeable decisions about which forage sources match their operations best."

The researchers were able to thoroughly evaluate several warm-season kinds of grass since they used heifers for the study. Young animals, such as heifers, are particularly sensitive to forage nutrition since they are already experiencing rapid growth, according to Keyser.

 

In order for heifers to as quickly as possible become a productive member of the herd, objective growth rates must be met. Forage nutrition is essential for achieving these objective growth rates, according to Keyser. These animals are excellent "measuring sticks" for summer grazing of warm-weather grasses.

Additionally, a yearly warm-season grass was examined: crabgrass According to Keyser, crabgrass is a highly favored forage. By including it, we were able to compare the advantages of annual and perennial forages.

Researching how some of the warm-season grasses function within the framework of yearly grazing cycles is one of Keyser's upcoming tasks.

We are specifically looking at adding some of these warm-season native grasses to tall fescue, cool-season feed basis.

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