THE FEEDING VALUE OF DRIED POTATO PULP FOR FATTENING CATTLE AND LAMBS

Abstract

Fattening cattle and lambs efficiently utilized concentrate rations containing 40 or 50% dried potato pulp fed with limited amounts of hay in three experiments. When dried potato pulp and urea replaced oats as 40% of a cattle ration, the rate of gain was significantly increased from 1.68 to 1.94 lb per day, warm carcass weight from 426 to 480 lb, carcass weight corrected to equal fat content from 363 to 466 lb, and specific gravity decreased from 1.075 to 1.063. Feeding apple pomace and urea in place of the oats resulted in higher feed consumption, but gains and carcass weights were not significantly better than those obtained with the potato pulp ration. Replacing the soybean oil meal with urea and barley in a 14% crude protein concentrate ration containing 40% dried potato pulp reduced the rate of gain of steers from 2.26 to 2.06 lb per day and increased the feed required per pound of gain from 8.48 to 9.30 lb.Lambs fed a concentrate ration containing 50% dried potato pulp and a small amount of hay gained 0.5 lb per day and consumed 4.27 lb of dry matter per pound of gain. Pelleting this concentrate ration slightly reduced feed consumption and gains. Dried potato pulp alone could not be pelleted.