21st Annual Student Research Conference
Effects of Finishing Lambs on Standing Grain Pasture versus Finishing Lambs in a Feedlot
Matthew Craig
Dr. Glenn R. Wehner, Faculty Mentor
Livestock producers need to determine alternative sources of forage to handle dry weather and rising grain prices. Two groups of lambs were fed, a feedlot group and a group pastured on standing grains. Upon reaching market weights a representative sample from each group was slaughtered and analyzed for differences in average daily gain (ADG), cost of gain and carcass value. Carcass data recorded was kidney fat, backfat thickness, ribeye area, carcass weight, slaughter weight, dressing %, and time to slaughter. ADG to day 100 averaged .314 lbs./day for the pastured animals and .609 lbs./day for the feedlot animals. The pastured animals had lower average kidney fat, backfat, ribeye area, carcass weight, and slaughter weight. The feedlot animals out performed the pastured animals in slaughter weight and ribeye area in a shorter amount of time.
Keywords: livestock, lamb, alternative forage
Topic(s):Agricultural Science
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 14-3
Location: VH 1432
Time: 10:15