Small acreages of hard red winter wheat and, more recently, hard white wheat are also planted in the state. Wheat is not traditionally used as a feed grain because its milling properties make it desirable for use in breads, pastas, and noodles. At certain times, however, wheat is competitively priced with other feed grains due to damage from disease, drought, or sprouting. Feed grade wheat is a palatable, digestible source of nutrients which can be used in beef cattle diets if fed with caution to avoid digestive upsets. Nutrient Content of Feed Wheat Nutrient content of wheat, wheat byproducts, and selected feed grains is shown in Table 1.
Wheat is higher in protein than other common feed grains such as corn, barley, or oats.
Within wheat classes, HRSW has the highest protein content, with hard red winter wheat and durum being slightly lower. All cereal grains are deficient in calcium and adequate in phosphorus for all classes of beef cattle. Nutrient Content of wheat, wheat byproducts, and selected feed grains. Low fiber levels and a rapid rate of starch digestion make wheat more difficult to feed than most other cereal grains. Figure 1 shows relative rates of fermentation for major feed grains.