Starting Cattle on High Levels of Sweet Bran in Southern Plains Feedlots

Three hundred fifteen crossbred steers (732 ± 9 lb) were used to determine the effects of feeding high levels of Sweet Bran ® during the grain adaptation period on steer performance and carcass characteristics compared with steers fed a steam-flaked corn and alfalfa-based adaptation diet containing 20% Sweet Bran. A traditional step-up procedure was compared to four strategies which utilized Sweet Bran. As steers were adapted to a common finishing diet, the level of Sweet Bran was decreased as level of SFC was increased. Feeding a high level of Sweet Bran with either alfalfa hay or an optimal level of cottonseed hulls resulted in animal performance equal to or better than the traditional step-up procedure. Feeding Sweet Bran with alfalfa hay resulted in a 17lb increase in HCW compared with the Control. Feeding a high level of Sweet Bran improved marbling score and resulted in significant reductions in the total amount of roughage required to finish a feedlot steer.