Nutritional benefits of specialty grain hybrids in beef feedlot diets

The study of grain hybrids with faster or more extensive rates of ruminal starch fermentation has been a key research area. Because grain sorghum starch is generally regarded as less accessible to enzymatic degradation than starch in other grains, it has received the greatest research emphasis. However, all grains have been evaluated to some extent. Grain sorghum hybrids appear to be more variable in digestibility, in vitro and in vivo, and in rate of starch fermentation than are corn hybrids. The greater variation may be partially because grain sorghum hybrids are developed and evaluated under more stressful environmental conditions (high temperature and limited water conditions) than are corn hybrids. In vitro and in vivo studies indicate that differences in grain hybrids exist, but these differences may not totally explain differences in cattle performance. The response to feeding high-lysine corn to cattle has been variable. Although high-lysine corn supplies more lysine in the diet, lysine flow to the abomasum was not increased. Hybrids selected for increased lysine content have been shown to have faster in vitro rates of starch digestion, suggesting that improvements in animal performance may be related to the indirect selection for improved energy utilization. In one study in which high-oil corn was evaluated, feed conversion was not improved compared with a control corn diet. At the present time additional studies in which other genetic modifications of grain hybrids are evaluated are in progress, but the results have not been published.