Studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of early weaning steer calves on BW gain, feedlot performance, and carcass characteristics in two herds located in the Northern Great Plains, USA. Steer calves from predominantly Angus Hereford dams were stratified within dam age and calving date (Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory (LARRL), Miles City, MT, USA; n1⁄4354) and randomly ...

Use of poultry fat in the finishing diets of steers has not been studied as a potential source of added energy. Therefore, 60 Angus crossbred steers were fed 1 of 3 dietary treatments consisting of 1) a corn-soybean meal control diet devoid of added fat; 2) the control diet formulated with 4% tallow; or 3) the control diet formulated with 4% poultry fat. Addition of fat did not (P = 0.17) affec...

Carcass (n = 568) and longissimus thoracis palatability (n = 460) traits from F1 steers obtained from mating Hereford (H), Angus (A), and U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) III cows to H, A, Norwegian Red (NR), Swedish Red and White (RW), Friesian (F), or Wagyu (W) sires were compared. Data were adjusted to constant age (471 d), carcass weight (356 kg), fat thickness (1.0 cm), percentage o...

Live weight gains of light and heavy calves grazing Plains Old World bluestem at three stocking rates were evaluated during the summers of 1997 and 1998. Initial weights of mixed-breed light-weight steers (LHT) were 141 SD = 17 kg (n = 214) in 1997 and 160 SD = 23 kg (n = 193) in 1998. Initial weights of mixed-breed heavy steers (HWT) were 265 SD = 17 kg (n = 115) in 1997 and 248 SD = 13 kg (n ...

Previous research indicates that finishing steer ADG and G:F increases linearly with increasing dietary Zn-amino acid complex (ZnAA) supplementation in cattle fed ractopamine hydrochloride (RAC). The objective of this study was to determine the influence of supplemental Zn-amino acid complex on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing steers fed RAC for 0, 28, or 42 d prior t...

Ten multicatherized steers were used in a completely random design to determine the effect of previous BW gain on blood flow, acid-base balance, and oxygen consumption across portal-drained viscera and liver of growing beef steers fed a high-grain diet. Treatments were high (1.31 +/- 0.09 kg/d) or low (0.68 +/- 0.07 kg/d) daily BW gain during an 82-d winter wheat pasture grazing period and a su...

The objective of this experiment was to provide a current evaluation of the seven most prominent beef breeds in the United States and to determine the relative changes that have occurred in these breeds since they were evaluated with samples of sires born 25 to 30 yr earlier. Carcass (n = 649), yield (n = 569), and longissimus thoracis palatability (n = 569) traits from F(1) steers obtained fro...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of dietary protein and fat from distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality in finishing steers. Angus-cross steers (n = 105; 443 +/- 20 kg of BW) were blocked by BW and randomly assigned to 1 of 5 dietary treatments: 1) corn-based diet with DDGS included at 25% of DM (CO...

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of winter growing program on organ mass, composition, and oxygen consumption in beef steers. A total of 46 steers were used for the experiment. Four steers were randomly selected as an initial slaughter group. Remaining steers were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 treatment groups: 1) fed a high-concentrate diet for ad libitum intake (CF)...

The objective was to investigate the effect of intake before fasting on concentrations of metabolites and hormones, respiratory quotient (RQ) and fasting heat production (HP) using the washed rumen technique and to compare these values with those from the fed state. Six Holstein steers (360±22 kg) were maintained at 21°C and fed three different energy intakes within a replicated 3×3 Latin squar...