Effects of previous grazing nutrition and management on feedlot performance of cattle

Management strategies designed to improve grazing animal performance can influence feedlot performance and carcass traits both positively and negatively. In spite of the economic relevance of potential interactions between grazing and finishing performance, controlled experiments evaluating integrated production systems are limited in number. Effects of grazing treatments can result from, or be overshadowed by, changes in gut fill, thus making it difficult to assign precise costs to different phases of production. Published reports have considered the effects of stocking rate, duration of grazing, forage characteristics, supplementation, and growth-promoting implants on subsequent finishing performance. Improvements in cattle performance attributed to changes in stocking rate generally have been neutral to positive with respect to effects on finishing performance. Comparisons among forages have led to the suggestion that forage species may contribute to differences in gastrointestinal fill of grazing cattle, thereby influencing gain and efficiency during the subsequent finishing phase. Creep-feeding suckling calves generally has increased preweaning performance but has had relatively little influence on performance during the subsequent finishing phase. Grain supplementation of stocker cattle during the grazing period has improved grazing performance, but effects on subsequent feedlot performance have been inconsistent. Potential carryover effects from protein and mineral supplementation also have been inconclusive. Lack of congruence among studies is puzzling but may be the consequence of highly varied production systems, differences in experimental procedures, and changes in gut fill or mass of internal organs. Based on the studies reviewed, the expression or absence of compensatory growth during the finishing phase appears to be related to the nutritional quality of forages utilized in the grazing period, with higher quality forages tending to yield greater compensatory effects. The bulk of evidence with suckling cattle and stocker implants suggests that effects on subsequent finishing performance are minimal. Attention is drawn to the noticeable lack of research pertaining to integrated production systems. A more thorough understanding of the interactions among grazing nutrition and management, finishing performance, and carcass traits is needed to facilitate greater economic exploitation of these relationships.