September 17, 2004

US Livestock Experts Offer Tips For Feeding Damaged Wheat
 

Wheat deemed unacceptable for milling can still play a vital role in livestock feeding operations. In parts of Kansas this year, rainy weather had damaged the wheat crop leaving its primary use for livestock feed, according to livestock specialists at US Kansas State University.

"Many studies have been conducted on feeding wheat to livestock, and most report excellent animal performance when the wheat-containing diet is managed correctly," said Joel DeRouchey, livestock production specialist with K-State Research and Extension.

Livestock feeders, particularly cattle feeders, should consider taking advantage of price discounts when such wheat is available.

"Regardless of the wheat's test weight and condition, it should be processed by grinding, dry rolling, or steam flaking to disturb its hard seed coat," DeRouchey said. "This will increase the energy digestibility of the wheat kernel."

There are things livestock producers should be aware of, even with wheat's attributes as a feed ingredient, say DeRouchey and Twig Marston, a beef cattle specialist.

• Wheat is low in fiber content and high in starch. Wheat starch can support fast fermentation in the rumen, causing digestive upsets and leading to poor animal performance.
   
• Wheat should usually be restricted to 30 to 50 percent of the complete diet for finishing cattle. It may take 20 to 30 days for cattle to adjust to high wheat diets.
   
• Stocker cattle consuming silage or hay diets may also be targets for damaged wheat feeding. Wheat should be limited to one percent or less of the animal's body weight in growing cattle.
   
• Be sure to formulate protein content to meet animal and microbial requirements. Wheat usually contains less than 14 percent protein, which limits its use in most low-quality forage diets fed to mature beef cattle.

DeRouchey and Marston also offer tips for implementing damaged wheat into the cattle diets:

• Producers should feed by weight not volume - large cattle with greater gut capacity can utilize low-test-weight wheat more readily than younger, light-weight cattle.
   
• If the wheat must be harvested at a high moisture content, then it should be dried to a safe level, aerated, preserved with a storage additive, or ensiled in an anaerobic state, as is done with silage.
   
• Damaged wheat should be stored carefully. Moisture content should be low enough to ensure that mold does not grow within the storage structure.
   
• Young animals, reproductive females and animals under nutritional stress are most vulnerable to toxins caused by mold.
   
• If mold is present on kernels, a sample should be sent to a diagnostic laboratory for testing before feeding the wheat to livestock.