Sunflower Hull and Corn Roughage Pellets, Triticale and Ergot in Rations For Beef Cattle

As new grains, grain varieties or by-products are developed which have potential feed value, they need to be evaluated for their usefulness to the livestock industry.The article reviews sunflower hull, corn roughage pellets, triticale and ergot for rations for beef cattle. In order to obtain information on these feeds at several levels in the rations, an experiment was designed to evaluate the pelleted roughage in wintering (growing) type rations as well as finishing rations. The results of this experiment are presented. The corn roughage pellets used were not as satisfactory a feed. Cattle fed triticale containing from 0.043 to 0.08 per cent ergot gained 17 % less rapidly than cattle fed barley or oats and barley. This was probably due to the effect of the ergot and not the triticale. Calves "wintered" for 126 days prior to putting on finishing rations gained 13 per cent less per day and required 24 per cent more feed