Dry matter intake, growth rate and residual feed intake of two divergent breeds of finishing steers offered either a concentrate-straw based diet or a silage based diet ad libitum

摘要

Due to growing concern over global food security and increasing pressure to minimise the impact of livestock production on the environment, production efficiency is becoming increasingly important. To improve the economic and environmental sustainability of beef production systems, it is important to identify cattle which are more efficient at converting feed into saleable product. Furthermore, owing to the direct link between food intake and methane output, improving feed efficiency is a potential strategy for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. This study investigated growth, voluntary feed intake and feed efficiency of two divergent breed types of finishing steers fed one of two commercially relevant diets in the UK.