UTILIZATION OF GRASS SILAGE BY CATTLE: EFFECT OF BARLEY AND FISHMEAL SUPPLEMENTS

Following weaning at 6–7 mo of age, 36 beef steers were used to determine production responses when grass silage was supplemented with barley or fishmeal. The silage was made from direct-cut, formic- acid-treated grass harvested from a mixed sward and had a high nitrogen content but poor fermentation characteristics. The silage was fed ad libitum for 98 days either alone or supplemented with 500 g fishmeal or 500 g barley per day. Both fishmeal and barley increased total dry matter intake (P 0.05). Steers fed the fishmeal grew substantially faster than either the barley (0.53 kg/day) or unsupplemented (0.54 kg/day) groups (P