177
Cold Winter Climates
this early period are partitioned preferentially to these tissues, and if provided with an unrestricted supply of
nutrients, weight accumulation in this developmental phase is optimised.
As the animal matures, proportionately more nutrients are partitioned to the deposition of fat, including internal
fat reserves, fat between muscle seams, subcutaneous fat, and intramuscular fat, in preference to muscle and
the skeleton. Intramuscular fat in particular, or beef marbling as it is known, is an important determinant
of eating quality of beef, thus inishing cattle with a focus on marbling is a key attribute in producing prime
eating quality beef. In the theoretical beef growth curve, liveweight gain slows as the animal partitions nutrients
to fat deposition as it matures.
In practice, backgrounding diets aim to control the growth rate of the cattle, to about 0.8 to 1.0kg per
day, and may involve pasture grazing if backgrounding occurs during the spring, summer or autumn when
grazing resources are available. If the backgrounding phase is conducted during winter, they will be fed
conserved forages and lower quality feed inputs such as straw, chaf and grain screenings, with modest levels of
dietary energy. This strategy allows the young cattle to develop their body size frame and muscle mass whilst
minimising the cost of feeding, particularly during winter when feed costs are high.
Feeding programs for backgrounding are based on factors such as the breed and weight of the cattle,
and the projected slaughter date and target weight. Backgrounded cattle are generally fed to reach weights
of between 360kg and 400kg, from where an additional 100kg to 150kg of liveweight gain is achieved in the
feedlot using inishing rations.
After weaning, cattle that are backgrounded on pasture should have access to good quality pasture throughout
summer and autumn that will enable them to maintain a positive growth path and be able to be inished to a
market speciication, either in a feedlot, or on pasture the following year.
8.2. Finishing
The inishing phase of beef cattle production is planned to achieve rapid weight gain and fat deposition to
produce carcasses that are consistent with the attributes required by the target market. Finishing periods vary
according to the size and condition of the animals and may vary from as little as 50days, to more than 150days.
In most cold climate countries, inishing will be managed in a feedlot or conined feeding yards and will produce
cattle weighing 450kg to 500kg, and carcasses of 220kg to 275kg, over a 100day inishing period.
If high quality pasture or forage is available in adequate quantities throughout summer and autumn, it is also
possible to inish cattle in the paddock with these feeds. These ‘grass-fed’ cattle are increasingly perceived to
have a marketing advantage in many international markets due to the higher concentration of omega-3
fatty acids in the resulting beef. If consumed in suicient quantities, these compounds have health beneits for
consumers. By comparison, grain-fed cattle inished in feedlots have very low levels of omega-3 fatty acids.
Feeding During Finishing For cattle inished in a feedlot, a diet high in energy is
fed to promote rapid weight gain and fat deposition. To achieve this, the cattle must irst adapt to the high
energy diet over a two week induction period and then be maintained on the diet until the target weight and
body condition is achieved. Cattle entering the feedlot can be successfully inducted to their new surroundings
by;
• Feeding unprocessed hay for the irst ive days, particularly if they have come of pasture. This helps
them settle down and become familiar with the feedlot pens and feed bunks and encourages them
to eat
• On day 2 or 3 introduce a starter ration containing chopped silage or hay 75 by weight, and an
introductory level of grain 25 by weight, or a concentrate feed. Placing up to 3kg per head of this
178
Beef Breeder MANUAL
on top of the hay in the feed bunk encourages the cattle to consume the starter ration and to continue
their adaptation to the feedlot • The starter ration should be formulated to contain
14 to 15 crude protein and 10 MJ of metabolisable energy ME per kg
• On day three, reduce the unprocessed hay by 10 per day, and increase starter ration by 10 per day
until day seven • On day eight, stop feeding unprocessed hay, and the
starter ration makes up 100 of the diet • Monitor intake of feed by the cattle daily and identify
and remove any cattle that are not settling down in the feedlot. Remove them from the mob for separate
feeding and management. By the end of the second week of feeding, the daily dry
matter intake of the ration by the animals should reach 2.5 to 2.7 of bodyweight. When this point is achieved,
the inishing ration can be progressively ‘stepped-up’ to increase the quantity of grain in the ration, by about 10
every 3
rd
or 4
th
day, and reducing the quantity of the roughage component Table 8.1.
Introduction of the inishing ration over a 21 to 28 day period enables the cattle to adapt to the progressively
increasing content of grain in the ration, and limiting the development of metabolic conditions such as acidosis
grain poisoning. Limiting grain intake to no more than 85 of the diet, and providing 15 of the diet as
roughage adds additional safety to the feeding regime, as very high grain diets in excess of 85 are diicult to
manage successfully to avoid a signiicant incidence of
Day Energy
MJkg Crude Protein
Calcium Phosphorus
of Grain
of Roughage
1-3 10.0
14.0 0.60
0.40 25
75 4-6
10.4 13.0
0.60 0.40
35 65
7-9 10.8
13.0 0.55
0.35 45
55 10-12
11.2 12.5
0.55 0.35
55 45
13-16 11.6
12.5 0.50
0.30 65
35 17-21
11.9 12.0
0.50 0.30
75 25
21-onwards 12.1
12.0 0.45
0.25 85
15
Table 8.1. Induction steps for a grain feedlot inishing ration on a dry matter basis. Source: McKinnon 1996, Manitoba Agriculture
179
Cold Winter Climates
sub-acute and acute grain poisoning see Section 4.5.6. Other management processes to help avoid grain
poisoning include; • Feeding cattle at the same time each day
• Ensuring feed bunks do not run out of feed, i.e. prevent having excessively hungry cattle
• Cleaning old feed and any manure or other contaminants out of the feed bunk at least weekly,
and more regularly if required • Including stock lime calcium carbonate ground to
pass through a 50 micron screen in the ration, at a rate of 1 to 2 on a dry matter basis
• Daily monitoring of cattle to identify sick or injured animals or shy-feeders, and removing afected
animals to be managed separately to recover and readapt to a inishing ration.
8.3. Health of Cattle in the Feedlot
