SB-638 Ed F. Smith Introduction Most grasses commonly grazed by cattle are highest in nutritive value in their early, immature growth stage, then steadily decline in nutritive value through dormancy and weathering. So growing cattle make their greatest gain when plants are immature and actively growing. As data in Table 1 show, daily gains by steers grazing native bluestem pasture were 1 lb. As the plants matured, crude fiber increased from 26 to 34 percent and protein decreased from 17.7 to 4.3 percent. These values indicate energy value declined drastically as the forage matured.
Energy is the nutrient that grass furnishes in greatest quantity.
This publication reports research that is applicable to growing cattle on grass in the Central United States. This text was extracted from the publication, SB-638.