Feeding value for finishing beef steers of wheat grain conserved by different techniques

The objective was to determine the feeding value of high moisture grain as an alternative to dry grain for finishing beef cattle. Winter wheat grain was harvested sequentially for rolling, acid treatment and ensilage (ER; 705 g dry matter (DM)/kg), urea whole grain treatment and anaerobic storage (UN; 746 g DM/kg) and whole grain propionic acid treatment and aerobic storage (rolled before feeding; PR; 849 g DM/kg). Friesian steers (n = 120; mean starting live-weight 518 kg) were allocated on a live-weight basis to 12 replicate blocks and then randomly assigned from within blocks to ten treatments. Treatments were grass silage offered ad libitum together with (i) no wheat, (ii–iv) PR at 3 or 6 kg/head daily, or ad libitum, (v–vii) UN at equivalent DM allowances to (ii) and (iii) above, or ad libitum, (viii–x) ER at equivalent DM allowances to (ii) and (iii) above, or ad libitum. Mean daily live-weight gains were 852 (ER), 726 (UN) and 855 g (PR) (s.e. = 65.5; P < 0.05) with corresponding values for carcass gain of 522, 425 and 528 g (s.e. = 35.6; P < 0.001) and daily silage DM intakes of 3.5, 4.0 and 3.6 kg (s.e. = 0.15; P < 0.001). Wheat DM intake when offered ad libitum was 7.8, 8.3 and 8.2 kg (s.e. = 0.10; P < 0.05) for ER, UN and PR, respectively. The content of apparently undigested whole grains and starch in faeces was higher (P < 0.001) for UN than for ER and PR, particularly at higher rates of wheat ingestion. It is concluded that ER treatment of wheat grain can be an acceptable alternative to the more traditional PR and superior to the UN treatment in the diets of finishing beef cattle.