by Nancy Carver Singleton

Oklahoma research found that grain-on-grass finishing can improve returns for heavy stocker calves as well as provide a more profitable use for warm season grasses.

Although pasture finishing combined with grain was used in the 1950s and '60s, it fell out of use when feeding moved to the Texas panhandle, explained William A. Phillips, an Agricultural Research Service animal scientist in Oklahoma.

Traditionally, warm season grasses are baled as hay or grazed by cows and summer stockers. An economic analysis by Grazinglands Research Laboratory showed that profitability from warm-season grasses is very volatile. "Negative returns occurred more frequently than the positive ones," he said.

So when the feedlot was full, Phillips decided to take a closer look at grain-on-grass finishing once again at the Grazinglands Research Laboratory in El Reno, Okla. He and his co-workers also wanted to develop a way to better utilize the warm season grasses common in the southern Great Plains while avoiding market penalties common for heavy stocker calves.

"I thought, 'Let's give it a twist. Let's see if we can make it more effective,' " he said.

In Grazinglands' study, calves grazed wheat pastures in the winter and cool season grasses in the spring. Then they were moved to pasture with warm season grasses such as Old World Bluestem. The pasture was stocked with twice as many calves as usual to ensure the grass was consumed. Once 80 percent of pasture was consumed, a high-energy diet of mostly corn was provided.

The grain-on-grass calves had similar weights and carcass measurements to those finished in feedlots, but with about 3 percent less fat.

"Their marbling scores were similar, their quality grades were similar. We have confidence we have a product similar to what is coming out of a commercial lot," he said.

Because of the grain fed, there have not been problems with yellow fat. "By the 40th day, 95 percent of their diet is out of the feeder," Phillips said. Quality is comparable to feedlot steers.

His analysis showed that most of the time there is a $15 to $20 per head net return advantage to use grain-on-grass. The grid system works well in marketing grain-on-grass calves because they are evaluated on grade and yield.

Feed savings was $25 per calf. Stocked at four calves per acre, each pasture acre is worth $100 for finishing cattle. "That's a lot more dollars per acre than could be anticipated from other uses of the grass," Phillips said.

"With the right type of cattle, it can be a very attractive option to market both cattle and warm season grasses. It is not a system to use every year. It depends on the type and weight of cattle available," Phillips said.

Grain-on-grass works best with heavier cattle--primarily British breeds--fed a shorter amount of time and that will marble and grade at lighter body weights. Lighter weight cattle need to be fed a longer time to reach adequate marbling and the desired grade.

Relatively few Oklahoma ranchers now use the grain-on-grass system, and they tend to market directly to consumers. But Phillips said it is easy to set up and hopes more producers try the system. The Grazinglands' staff tried to use equipment and facilities easily available to producers.

"Without a lot of investment or facilities, you could feed (grain-on-grass) years when it is profitable. You could bypass a year when the economic environment is not right," Phillips said. When fed cattle prices are high, there is little or no discount for heavy stocker calves. ©