Nutrition and Feeding
Among the most essential components of beef production are proper nutrition and feed management. Feeding your cattle a healthy, balanced diet and providing abundant supplies of clean water is crucial for herd health and productivity.
On this page, Penn State Extension offers a comprehensive list of resources to help you with beef cattle nutrition and feeding, high-grain vs grass-fed beef production, feed analysis, water needs, mineral supplementation, and more.
Beef Cattle Feed Management
A large part of beef cattle production costs is dedicated to the purchase of (supplementary) feeds. Due to the high expenses, it’s important that producers utilize cattle feed in an optimal way.
When creating a feed management plan, the focus should be on increasing cattle feeding efficiency, reducing the quantity and nutrient content of manure, and achieving nutrient balance.
To learn more about beef cattle feed management, have a look at Penn State Extension’s Feed Efficiency workshop. The workshop covers a variety of topics, such as identifying animals that can efficiently convert feed into marketable products.
Beef Cattle Nutrient Requirements
Matching forage quality and quantity to the cattle nutritional needs is a key factor for optimal herd performance. Underfeeding nutrients can lower production and overfeeding can increase feed expenses and losses over net return.
Typically, the amount of nutrients needed is influenced by climate conditions, as well as the animal’s age, weight, and production stage (e.g. calves, young cattle, or lactating cows). A cow’s basic nutritional needs include protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water.
Grass-fed Beef Cattle
Grass-fed beef is a term used to describe meat from animals that ate a pasture-based diet. Cows raised on pastures spend a bigger part of their time eating native forages and upcycling nutrients.
It is worth knowing that beef produced for the grass-fed market, may also come from animals raised in a pasture setting but ‘finished’ on a grain-based diet.
Grain-Fed Beef Herds
Grain-fed beef is meat from cows that have been fed (mostly) corn and other grains. Beef producers may choose to feed their livestock grains for a number of reasons such as on-farm resources and environmental factors, as well as wanting to maintain a consistent meat supply quality.
A grain-based diet can be a cheaper alternative to hay that supplies the herd with sufficient nutrition. In general, good cattle diets are developed by nutritionists and contain protein, fiber, vitamins, and cereal grains.
Overall, whether producers raise beef as grass-fed or grain-fed, the animals still spend the majority of their life grazing on pastures and their meat is an excellent nutritional source.
Calving and Cattle Nutrition
Beef cattle can meet the majority of their nutritional needs through hay, grass, or stored forages. Certain adjustments are required in the period right before and immediately after calving.
Proper beef cattle nutrition prior to and after calving can be challenging to maintain. During this period, nutritional needs are dependent on factors such as lactation, reproductive state, and colostrum production.
Colostrum – the initial milk produced by the cow – plays a significant role in the diet of a newborn calf. Restricted pre-calving nutrition can directly impact colostrum production. In turn, calves with restricted colostrum intake tend to be more prone to diseases, have higher mortality rates, and have lower feedlot growth rates.
Learn more about cattle nutrition, as well as how to manage beef cattle feeds with Penn State Extension’s articles, workshops, conferences, and online courses.
- Articles
Feeding Market Steers for Show
This publication features a wealth of information designed to help your steer reach its full potential at the market steer show. - Workshops
$475.00
Preventive Controls for Animal Food
When 09/24/2024Length 2.5 daysEvent Format In-PersonProvides the credentials to meet FDA requirements for development and implementation of a preventive system for food safety as stated within the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations. - Articles
Optimizing Mineral Supplementation for Beef Cattle Grazing
This article will explain the importance of monitoring mineral intake in your beef cattle going into grazing season. - Articles
Ionophores: A Technology to Improve Cattle Efficiency
This article explains how the use of ionophores—antibiotics that shift ruminal fermentation patterns—can improve cattle production efficiency. - Articles
Grass-fed Beef Production
This article will clarify some of the production methods used to raise grass-fed beef. - Articles
Integrating Grazing into Cropping Systems
Benefits of integrating livestock grazing into cropping systems are becoming clearer. There are many challenges that need to be addressed to increase the chance of success with both enterprises. - Articles
Minerals for Beef Cattle
Minerals are essential for beef cattle in all stages of production. Understanding how to choose the correct mineral for your cattle can be challenging. This article will provide an overview of how to read mineral tags. - Articles
Determining Forage Quality: Understanding Feed Analysis
Learn how to use feed analysis to determine forage quality, and exactly what feeding a high quality forage means. - Articles
Heavy Use Area Pads for Cattle
A challenge that beef and dairy producers manage through is mud, which deteriorates soil health in areas of heavy use. A heavy use area pad prevents soil erosion, creating more sustainability. - Tools and Apps
Crop Cents Mobile App
CropCents is a mobile app that calculates actual costs to produce home raised feeds for crop, dairy, and beef producers. - Articles
Care and Condition of Sacrifice Areas
Sacrifice areas are areas where livestock are kept during inclement weather, or to protect pastures from damage. - Videos
Ruminant Nutrition
These videos will discuss the basics of ruminant nutrition relative to how forage quality affects ruminal function and animal performance. - Articles
Integrating Grazing into Cropping Systems: Cover Crop Species and Crop Rotations
Learn how cover crops can be used to prevent soil erosion and increase soil health, along with how producers can achieve maximum returns from cover cropping. - Articles
Integrating Grazing into Cropping Systems: Livestock Class Considerations
Learn how cover crops within crop rotations can provide low-cost forage for grazing, along with highlighting the importance for the livestock owner to understand nutritional, infrastructure, and other needs of their class of livestock. - Articles
What To Ask the Nutritionist
There are many benefits to hiring a good nutritionist for your beef cattle operation. However, sometimes it can be difficult to know what questions to ask when you are getting started. - Articles
Transitioning Calves: From Pasture to Feedlot
Transitioning newly weaned calves to the feedlot can be highly successful, or it can be a disaster. In order to avoid the disaster, follow these tips for success. - Articles
Nutrition Through the Weaning Period
Preweaned calf nutrition depends heavily on the dam and the pastures. While there are scenarios when supplementing calves prior to weaning will pay cattlemen, a careful calculation of the economics is recommended. - Articles
Gut Health in Cattle
Poor gut health can negatively affect overall cattle health status and performance. By maintaining ideal gut health, animal health and performance will be bettered. - Articles
Grazing Corn Stalks with Beef Cattle
Feeding stored feeds in winter months is a major cost of beef cow-calf and backgrounding operations. Extending the grazing season by grazing corn crop residue may be an economically viable option for beef producers in Pennsylvania. - Videos
Grass Fed vs. Grain Fed Beef
Length 7:12There are many possible production scenarios for beef cattle. This video will explain two different types of production, grass-fed versus grain-fed beef. - Articles
Consideration of Fat and Protein in Alternative Feeds
Cattle can use many feeds that non-ruminant animals cannot. Thus, beef cattle producers are uniquely positioned to use new and changing feed ingredients. - Articles
Consider Corn-Based Diets as Alternatives to Hay for Beef Cows
In times when hay is expensive, alternative feeds may be used to supply energy and protein to the cow herd. - Articles
Common Diseases of Grazing Beef Cattle
Includes information on the following diseases: bloat, grass tetany, hardware disease, white muscle disease, and foot rot. - Articles
Certified Feed Management Planners: Beef
Resources for certified feed management planners who are preparing feed management plans for beef herds. Required Items for a Completed Feed Management Plan - Articles
Beef Cow Nutrition Before and After Calving
Supplying adequate nutrition to the cow is critical during the 60 days prior to calving and immediately after calving.