Wheat is equal to corn on a weight basis for beef rations if you follow certain precautions in its use. Wheat is probably worth 8 to 10 percent more than grain sorghum on a weight basis for beef cattle. Wheat is more variable than corn in feed value. Protein and other nutritive values of wheat are affected by climate, variety, soil and cultural practices. The level of wheat that can be safely included in high-grain rations depends on the variety used.
Variety appears to affect energy value of wheat more than type or whether wheat is hard or soft.
Hard red winter wheats had higher net energy values than soft red winter varieties in some studies. But in other trials, certain soft wheat varieties were superior to hard wheats as feed for beef cattle. Even though hard and soft wheats are given equal energy in Table 1, keep in mind that energy level is affected more by variety than by wheat type. Strong gluten wheats tend to be superior to weak gluten wheats for cattle, and cattle seem to consume strong and weak gluten wheats in the same amounts, though some feeders think gluten may be responsible for cattle reducing intake on wheat rations. Corn 86.0 10.1 91.0 103.6 67.3 0.02 0.29 Milo 89.0 12.5 83.0 89.1 59.5 0.05 0.35 National Research Council, 1976.