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Two hundred eighty-eight British crossbred steer calves were used in a randomized design to evaluate four concentrations of cull great northern beans (GNB). Beans were included in the dietary DM at 0, 5, 10, and 15% and were substituted for corn. Over the 30-d trial, feed intake and ADG decreased linearly (P In a second trial, 64 Hereford steers (345 kg) were used in a four-treatment randomized design with 16 individually fed steers per treatment. Cull GNB were included in the dietary DM at concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1, and 2%. Feed intake increased (P

Eastern gamagrass [Tripsacum dactyloides L.] is a native, warm-season, perennial, bunch-type grass adapted generally to moist sites throughout much of the eastern United States. Nitrogen concentrations of eastern gamagrass will normally exceed 20 g/kg at growth stages (boot and anthesis) that produce reasonable yields. With moderate N fertilization, concentrations of N approaching 32 g/kg are realistic in whole-plant tissue harvested at boot stage in the upper Midwest. Recent studies suggest that high proportions (>50%) of this N are insoluble in neutral detergent (NDIN), thereby implying association with the cell wall. In situ studies in Kansas have shown that the potential extent of ruminal N degradation for gamagrass harvested at boot stage is comparable with that of high quality legumes, but degradation occurs at slower rates; generally, similar trends have been observed for in situ disappearance of DM and fibrous components. Increasing plant maturity appears to limit extent primarily, but not the rate, of degradation for these plant components. Concentrations of NDF are generally high (>600 g/kg), even at immature growth stages; this observation is consistent with findings for other warm-season grasses. In studies conducted throughout the mid South, researchers report that ADG ranged between 0.5 and 1.0 kg/d for steers continuously grazing eastern gamagrass pastures. Daily gains are likely to be reduced as days on pasture increase. Mounting evidence suggests that gamagrass grown in the Midwest demonstrates better quality characteristics than that grown in the Southeast.

A study was conducted 1) to identify the concerns that producers believe the public has regarding animal agriculture, 2) to provide a self-assessment by producers of their industries, and 3) to identify issues producers feel the public may misunderstand and which can be alleviated through public education. Surveys were mailed to Pennsylvania producers of five animal industries: beef, dairy, swine, poultry, and veal. The response rate received was 18 to 22%, depending on the industry (n = 540). The two most frequent complaints received by the producers from the public were odor and flies, respectively. Self-assessments indicated that the highest-ranked concern of producers was harmful chemicals in the food supply; food storage and use of too many inputs were of least concern. Issues identified by producers as frequently being misunderstood by the public and in need of the most public education were water quality, food safety, air quality, farm animal welfare, soil quality, use of resources, and recycling of by-products, respectively. This survey demonstrated that a majority of livestock producers (63.2%) maintains that the care they currently provide to their animals has improved over the past 10 yr; however, only 26.3% of the producers believe that the public feels that the quality of animal care has improved. This discrepancy may be a result of an increasing absence of filial ties to production agriculture and the tendency of the public to rely on non-farm sources of information about farming.

Five combinations of canola meal and urea were compared in a titration study using yearling beef steers (n = 120, initial weight = 383 kg ± 6.25) consuming barley and potato processing residue-based diets. The steers were allotted to 20 pens in a randomized block design and fed for 86 d. Diets were formulated to contain 30% potato processing residue, 45% barley, 15% corn silage, and 10% supplement (DM basis). Nitrogen source was the only difference in the diets. Supplements were formulated to be isonitrogenous with the N source being either urea or canola meal (C) to provide a calculated dietary CP of 11.5%. Treatments were: 100% urea supplement (0C); 25% canola meal supplement, 75% urea supplement (25C); 50% canola meal supplement, 50% urea supplement (50C); 75% canola meal supplement, 25% urea supplement (75C); and 100% canola meal supplement (100C). Average daily gain and DMI were similar for all treatments (P>0.05). Gain to feed ratio was larger (P 0.05). The changes in carcass composition toward a leaner carcass with natural protein (the 25C fed steers) indicate potential benefits from the use of canola meal in barley and potato processing residue-based diets instead of urea as the sole supplemental N source.

Twenty alfalfa hay sources, grown under irrigation in Wyoming, were fed to 24 fine-wool wether lambs (average weight = 44.9 kg) to determine dry matter intake (DMI), expressed as a percentage of body weight, and digestible dry matter (DDM). These data were used to evaluate equations utilized in predicting relative feed value (RFV) of forages. High and low values of the hays for NDF and ADF were 56.0 to 39.5 and 43.6 to 32.7, respectively. They were ground through a grinder-mixer equipped with a 5-cm screen prior to feeding. Lambs were housed in metabolism crates in a temperature-controlled room. Six lambs were fed each forage with four forages evaluated in each of five periods. Because intake was ad libitum, the percentage of NDF and ADF in the diet of each sheep was calculated by dividing the amount of NDF or ADF consumed by the amount of DM consumed. Mean values for each hay were used in data analysis. Equations evaluated were: DMI = 120/%NDF; DDM = 88.9-(0.779 × % ADF); and RFV = (% DDM × % DMI)/1.29. An estimated value was calculated for DMI, DDM, and RFV for each of the hays using these equations. Actual RFV of each hay was calculated using actual DMI and DDM. Regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between actual and the estimated values using actual values as the dependent variable. The model for DMI [actual DMI = 2.81 - (0.07 × estimated DMI)] accounted for less than 1% of the variation of intake (R2 = 0.01), whereas the bias was 20.7%. The equation for DDM [actual DDM = 43.8 + (0.25 × estimated DDM)] accounted for 20% of the variation in DM digestion and the bias was 2.4%. Because of the large amount of variation unaccounted for in DMI and DDM in the above equations, the model for actual RFV accounted for less than 1% of the variation in estimated RFV, and the bias was 21.9%. These data suggest that NDF or ADF may not be related to forage quality to the extent to allow ranking of similar forages.