The effects of maturity of maize at harvest and level of maize in forage based diets on the performance of beef cattle

Abstract

Major developments, both in agronomic practices and plant breeding, have enabled the consistent production of high yields of forage maize in areas in which it was not possible to grow the crop 20-30 years ago (Keady 2005). Recent studies (Keady et al 2002, 2003, Keady and Kilpatrick 2004) have clearly illustrated that the inclusion of maize silage consistently increased the performance of beef and dairy cattle. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of maturity of maize at harvest and level of inclusion in forage based diets on feed intake and animal performance of finishing beef cattle. Furthermore the potential concentrate sparing effect of maize silage inclusion was also determined.