Supplementing Dried Distillers Grains to Growing Calves on Smooth Bromegrass Pastures

Steers supplemented daily with dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) on non-fertilized smooth bromegrass pastures gained 1.9 lb/day compared to 1.46 lb/day for cattle on both fertilized and non-fertilized pastures. The fertilized and supplemented treatments were stocked at equal densities, and the non-fertilized pastures were stocked at 69% the density of the other two treatments. At a lower stocking rate, the non-fertilized pastures showed poorer forage production, but equal cattle performance compared to the fertilized pastures. The supplemented pastures showed slightly decreased forage production compared to the fertilized pastures, but at the same time showed increased cattle performance. Each lb of DDGS replaced about 1 lb of forage. DDGS improved steer and pasture performance when supplemented daily on smooth bromegrass pastures