Which grass is nest for hamburger cows?
Americans consume more than 50 pounds of meat annually on average (according to USDA estimates). What do beef cattle consume, though? Beef cattle frequently consume tall fescue, a “cool-season” grass, in the eastern United States. As the name implies, cool-season grass thrives in temperate climates with high rainfall and temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the eastern United States does not constantly experience cool and damp weather, and in the summer, cool-season grasses typically perform poorly.
However, there are also “warm-season” grasses like bermudagrass and large bluestem. In the eastern United States, these grasses flourish in summertime climates that are hotter and dryer. According to Patrick Keyser, a cattle farmer, “Cattle farmers can profit from having good summer feed production from warm-season grasses.”
Different warm-season grasses were evaluated for their nutritional content by Keyser and colleagues. Eastern gamagrass, switchgrass, and a mixture of big bluestem and indiangrass were three natural warm-season grasses that were investigated in the study. Because there hasn’t been as much research on these native grasses, Keyser explains why they were chosen. Although many cattle farmers in the eastern and southeastern United States may be less familiar with the local choices, they ultimately proved to be the most cost-effective.
And the research revealed an unexpected advantage of using local fodder. A specific type of fungus frequently lives in tall fescue. Although it coexists with the grass, this fungus is capable of producing compounds that are poisonous to cattle. This fungus does not reside on warm-season grasses.
Tall fescue toxicity hazards would be decreased by all five warm-season grasses. However, ranchers may shift cattle off tall fescue up to 29 days earlier in spring using the three native choices than they could with bermudagrass.
The crew also kept an eye on the heifers’ weight gain while they consumed the various grasses. According to Keyser, “all the forages differed in significant ways.” Depending on their end objectives, different cattle producers will employ different warm-season grasses as feed. For instance, cattle breeders may want their animals to grow weight quickly.
