Ethanol Blog

Canadian Researcher: Create Better Carcass with Barley, DDG

Cheryl Anderson
By  Cheryl Anderson , DTN Staff Reporter

To increase the return on every carcass, beef producers need to minimize inputs and maximize outputs, according to Heather Bruce, carcass and meat science researchers from the University of Alberta.

In an article in Alberta Farm Express (http://bit.ly/…), Bruce said that a quick, easy way to improve both average daily gain and carcass quality is by finishing cattle with grain. Grain based diets improve the quality of beef, and also improve the taste and add to production efficiency.

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She said while "barley is king" in Canada in terms of rate of gain, DDG and triticale can also be used successfully.

Bruce told attendees at a recent feed workshop about her research in balancing energy and protein for growth and carcass composition. Animals were fed high or low levels of both energy and protein to determine how feed affected carcass quality.

Bruce said the diets ended up with similar carcass composition in terms of fat; however, increasing the energy in the ration increased the amount of body fat and the low energy, high protein diet increased leanness.

Cheryl Anderson can be reached at Cheryl.anderson@dtn.com

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