Low Test Weight and Sprouted Wheat Can Be Fed to Cattle

Rainy weather during wheat growing and harvesting made this year’s crop in parts of the wheat belt unacceptable for milling, leaving its primary use as livestock feed, said livestock specialists at Kansas State University.

“Many studies have been conducted on feeding wheat to livestock, and most report excellent animal performance when the wheat-containing diet is managed correctly,” said Joel DeRouchey, livestock production specialist with K-State Research and Extension.

Livestock feeders should consider taking advantage of price discounts when such wheat is available, he said.

“Regardless of wheat’s test weight and condition, it should be processed by grinding, dry rolling, or steam flaking to disturb its hard seed coat,” DeRouchey said. “This will increase the energy digestibility of the wheat kernel.”

Even with wheat’s attributes as a feed ingredient, there are things livestock producers should be aware of.
Wheat is low in fiber content and high in starch, making it more difficult to feed than other grains in ruminant rations, DeRouchey said. Wheat starch can support fast fermentation rates within the rumen, which can cause digestive upsets that lead to poor animal performance and even death.

“Inexperienced feeders should consider mixing wheat with other grains, such as corn or grain sorghum, to stabilize the rumen fermentation of the diet,” said Twig Marston, beef cattle specialist.

Generally, wheat should be restricted to 30 to 50 percent of the complete diet for finishing cattle, he said. Adapting fed cattle to diets with high wheat content may take 20 to 30 days.

Stocker cattle consuming silage or hay diets can also be fed damaged, low-test weight wheat, Marston said. Wheat should be limited to one percent or less of the animal’s body weight for growing cattle. It is imperative that the protein content of the diet is formulated to meet the animal and rumen microbial requirements.

DeRouchey and Marston gave tips for implementing damaged wheat into the cattle diets.
Wheat usually contains less than 14 percent protein, which limits its use in most low-quality forage diets fed to mature beef cattle.

Protein supplements used in such situations usually contain 20 to 40 percent protein.
Producers should feed by weight not volume - large cattle with greater gut capacity can utilize low-test-weight wheat more readily than younger, light-weight cattle and non-ruminants. ©