Performance of beef steers on Smuts finger grass and Nile grass pasture in northern Natal 2. Feedlot performance following summer grazing

Abstract

In a previoust rial, weaners teersw ere wintereda t one of threeg rowth rates( 0, 0.3 and 0.6 kg/day) after which they grazed either Smuts finger grass (Digitaria eriantha spp eriantha) or Nile grass (Acroceras macrum) pastures, each at one of three stockingr ates( 6,8 and 10 steers/hao) ver the summer grazingp eriod.I n the presentt rial, the eighteen-month-olds teers originatingf rom that trial were subjectedt o four differentf eedlottings ystemsT. he feedingr egimesc ompriseda farmers' mix (FM), f-eedingw ith beef pelletsa nd whole maize( BPM), feedingf inisherf eed with milled hay (FFH), and a complete f-eed( TR). Steersw ere fed to a set targetm ass.A veraged aily gainso f 1.859+0.056,1 .799+0 .091,2.119+ 0.067 and I .981 + 0.042 were measuredfo r the FM, BPM, FFH andT R treatmentsr,e spectivelyN. o relationshipb etweent he preceding winteringl evels,s ummers tockingr ateso r summerp astureo n the oneh anda ndf eedlotg rowthr ateso r massg ain on the other hand were found. 

In 'n vorige proef is speenossoeo rwintert eene env an drie groeipeile( 0, 0.3 en 0.6 kg/dag)w aarnah ulle 6f Smutsvingergras( Digitaria eriantha spp eriantha) 6f Nylgras (Acrocerasm acrum), elk teen een van drie veebeladings( 6, 8 en 10 osse/ ha) bewei het. In hierdiep roef is die agtienmaandouoes sea fkomstigv an die vorigep roef onderwerpa anv ier verskillende voerkraalstelselsD. ie voedingstelselhse t behelsd ie voer van 'n boeremengse(lF M), die voer van vleisbeeskorrelsa am met heel mielies( BPM), die voer van afrondvoers aamm et gemaaldeh ooi (FFH) en 'n volvoer( TR). Die ossei s gevoert ot 'n teikenmassaG. emiddelded aaglikseto enamesw as 1.859+ 0.056,1 .799+ 0.091,2 .119+ 0.067e n 1.981t 0.042 vir die FM, BPM, FFH en TR behandelingso nderskeidelikG. eenv erbandt ussend ie vorige wintergroeipeiles, omerveebeladings of somerweidinga and ie eenk ant en voerkraalgroeitempoof massatoenamaea nd ie anderk ant,i s gevind nie.

Keywords: On-farm feedlotting, pre-feedlot treatment, sub-tropical pastures.