Research Shows Grass Gains Don't Hurt Feedyard Performance

by Jill J. Dunkel

Traditionally, cattle buyers shy away from fleshy calves coming off of grass. If they are too fat from grazing, it is assumed that the "goodie" is out of them. But research conducted by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Overton and Uvalde, Texas, and Texas Tech University seems to refute that belief.

The cattle were assigned to various stocking rates and methods to solicite different levels of gains during the grazing period.

"Based on this research, calves that did well on grass continue to do well in the feedlot," says Jason Cleere, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Extension Beef Cattle Specialist with Texas A&M. "Calves that gained less on grass did show some compensatory gains, but they didn't catch up to the heavier grass cattle."

All of the calves were fed to a consistent .4 inch of backfat, says Cleere. The higher gaining grass cattle had only slightly lower feedlot average daily gains when compared to the medium or low gaining grass cattle. However, the light weight cattle failed to compensate completely for reduced weight gain during the grazing period. "The cattle that were heavier going in the feedyard produced heavier carcasses, resulting in more money."

Marbling score and yield grade were similar among all of the groups, although the higher gaining grass steers had a larger ribeye area. The biggest difference in the groups was how much money the calves generated.

"The high gaining grass cattle received $40.53 more total carcass value than the medium gaining steers, and $62.03 more than the low gaining steers," the research states. "Basically the heavier calves produced heavier carcasses, which brought in more money," explains Cleere. "To a certain point, pounds of beef still pay the bills," he says, as long as you're not jeopardizing carcass characteristics.

Cleere theorizes that one reason the higher gaining grass cattle continued a steady gain in the feedlot is due to their genetics. "We select cattle on their genetics for growth more now than in the past," he says.

"The story here isn't that the lower gaining cattle didn't have much compensatory gain," Cleere explains. "They did compensate for lower performance during the grazing period, just as you would expect. But what is encouraging is that the high performing grass cattle did well in the feedyard, too.

"This research shows that it shouldn't hurt feedyard performance for cattlemen to take advantage of some low-cost gains in the pasture. There is still some 'goodie' left in these calves." ©