Hybrid rye grain inclusion strategies as a replacement for corn grain in finishing cattle diets: effects on growth performance and carcass characteristics.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding dry-rolled hybrid rye grain (DRRG) as a replacement for dry-rolled corn (DRC) in beef cattle finishing diets. Two inclusion strategies for rye grain (RG) were evaluated: a total replacement of DRC for a limited time and a partial replacement during the entire feeding trial for Exp. 1 and 2, respectively. In Exp. 1, primarily Angus steers [n = 110, initial shrunk body weight (BW) 391 ± 31.5 kg] were blocked by BW and pen location in 7 blocks and assigned to either 1-A) DRC as the sole grain during the entire finishing (DRC), or 1-B) DRRG during the initial 46 d (replacement phase) and then switched to DRC (DRRG/DRC). In Exp. 2, primarily Angus steers (n = 44, initial shrunk BW 436 ± 41.0 kg) were blocked by BW and pen location in 4 blocks and assigned to either 2-A) DRC as the sole grain (DRC), or 2-B) the dietary grain component was a blend of one-third DRRG and two-thirds DRC (DM basis), during the entire feeding trial (MIX). Steers were fed for a total of 144 and 119 d in Exp. 1 and Exp. 2, respectively. Pen was the experimental unit, and data were analyzed as a randomized complete block design for both experiments. In Exp. 1, DRRG-fed steers had 18% less dry matter intake (DMI;