Comparison of Cotton Gin Trash and Peanut Hulls as Low-Cost Roughage Sources for Growing Beef Cattle

Two trials evaluated cotton gin trash and peanut hulls as roughage sources for beef cattle. In the production trial, 40 steers (initial BW = 233 ± 17.5 kg) were allotted randomly to 1 of 4 feed mixtures: 1) 45% peanut hulls + 55% cracked corn (PH+CC), 2) 45% peanut hulls + 47% cracked corn + 8% cottonseed meal (PH+CC+CSM), 3) 45% gin trash + 55% cracked corn (GT+CC), and 4) 45% gin trash + 47% cracked corn + 8% cottonseed meal (GT+CC+CSM). There were 2 pens/diet and 5 steers/pen. In addition, Bermudagrass hay was offered free choice via hay rings in each pen. In this trial, steers fed gin trash gained faster than those fed peanut hulls (1.19 vs. 0.94 kg/d; P < 0.01) and had greater DMI (10.3 vs. 7.6 kg/d; P < 0.05) Diets containing cottonseed meal produced faster ADG than those without cottonseed meal (1.14 vs. 0.99 kg/d; P < 0.02), and had greater DMI (9.7 vs. 8.3 kg/d; P < 0.05). In the second trial, 16 steers (initial BW = 301 ± 24.1 kg) were assigned randomly to 1 ofthe 4 diets used in trial 1 (4 steers/diet) and nutrient digestibilities were determined. Dry matter intake did not differ among diets and averaged 6.0 kg/d or 2.0% of BW. Dry matter and OM digestibilities tended to be greater (P < 0.07) for GT+CC compared with the other 3 diets Crude protein digestibility was least (P < 0.05) for PH+CC (60%) and greatest for PH+CC+CSM (70%), with GT+CC and GT+CC+CSM being intermediate (66 and 63%).