High feed costs in recent months have made it attractive to "grow" cattle to heavier weights and feed them fewer days than usual, but there are factors to consider, a Kansas State University animal scientist said.

"Americans and most export customers are accustomed to the taste and tenderness of `grain-fed´ beef," said Michael Dikeman, meat scientist with K-State Research and Extension. "Over the years, cattle feeders have fed cattle high-grain diets to attain maximum performance and near-maximum marbling. We have created a consistent product that consumers like and have come to expect."

In a presentation prepared for K-State´s Beef Stocker Conference recently, Dikeman said that little research has been done to study the effects of leaving cattle on forage for longer periods and of feeding grain for a shorter period than is typically done in the United States. What studies have been conducted, however, show that marbling—the fat that runs through the muscle and makes beef tender and juicy—can be negatively affected by restricting energy early in an animal´s life.

Feedlots have traditionally fed cattle high-grain diets for 120 to 180 days prior to slaughter to attain maximum performance, maximum dressing percentage, near-maximum marbling, and carcasses with white fat and bright meat color, he said.

The consequences of feeding cattle less than 100 days, Dikeman said, may include:

•Higher fixed costs per unit of weight gained,

•Lower dressing percentage,

•Reduced marbling,

•Yellow fat,

•Less attractive meat color,

•Altered taste and tenderness, and

•Less total output per animal.

Studies show that an alternative some producers are considering—feeding wet distillers grains (DSG) and dry corn—also comes with factors to consider, he said. They include:

•A 40- to 50-percent increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids in meat from cattle fed higher levels of wet DSG from corn,

•More rapid lipid oxidation while meat is on retail display;