Bryan Miller and Vern Anderson
Double MM Bison Ranch, Carrington ND,
and Carrington Research Extension Center , NDSU
Introduction
The rapidly growing bison industry in the northern plains has producers looking for information
on what feeds can be used for bison in the feedyard. In some intensively managed operations,
bison calves are weaned in the fall, separated by sex, and started on feed. Bull calves are
confined in a lot and fed until slaughter. The feeding period is often a year or more as bison eat
less and gain slower than beef (Koch, et al., 1995). Winter gains are a particular concern with
very low and erratic gains experiences by many bison feeders (Stanton and Schutz, 1995). A
natural trait of bison is to self limit intake of concentrate feeds. Self feeders are frequently used
without concern for overeating or acidosis, however accumulation of fines may reduce intake.
Many bison producers use a completely pelleted wheat screenings based diet which includes
corn, molasses and mineral supplements. As bison numbers increase and the availability of
wheat screenings varies from year to year, producers need information on other feeds. A
number of alternative or co-product feeds are available in the northern plains. A feeding trial was
partially funded by North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission to compare four
different diets for bison fed during four seasons of the year.
Materials and Methods
Seventy eight fall weaned bison bull calves averaging 471.0 + 18.1 pounds were randomly allotted to one of four dietary treatments and assigned to identical 50 by 100 foot feedlot pens on February 5, 1993 at the Double MM Bison Ranch, near Carrington, ND. Four feeding periods in the Latin square design were closely associated with spring, summer, fall, and winter. Feeding periods started on February 15, May 5, July 25, and October 14. Dietary treatments were identified based on major or unique ingredients in the diet. They were 1)wheat screenings, 2) wheat midds, 3) crambe meal, and 4) a commercial bison ration. Formulations are given in Table 1 for the first three diets. No formulation was available for the commercial bison feed. The wheat screenings diet commonly used by many bison producers was considered the control. Wheat screenings are highly variable in composition but generally consists of green and yellow foxtail seed , commonly called pigeon grass (60-80%), cracked wheat (10-20%), and other weed seeds. Wheat middlings were from durum, milled for the production semolina used to make pasta. Middlings from hard red wheat and durum are generally similar in nutrient content and co-mingled for marketing. Crambe meal is an oil seed meal (35% protein) remaining after removal of the high erucic acid industrial oil from crambe seed. Crambe is a close relative of rape, and canola. It is a new crop in the northern plains with limited acreage. The commercial diet used a wheat midds base and contained a minimum of 12% crude protein, 2% crude fat and a maximum of 12% crude fiber. Nutrient analysis of the four diets on a dry matter basis is given in table 2.
The pelleted rations were offered in identical self feeders in the center of each pen. Bison calves in all four pens were offered the same low quality grass hay free choice in large round bale feeders. Water was available from heated fountains in the corner of each pen.
Calves were weighed at the start of the study, and at the end of each feeding period. Bison in each pen were rotated to a different pen and a different feed after each period.
Data were analyzed using general linear model procedures according to SAS (SAS, 1988). Pen was the experimental unit and period the replicate. Analyses were conducted for the main effects of diet, pen and season and diet x season interactions.
Results and Discussion
Daily gains were significantly lower (P<.05) during the winter feeding period than during spring,
summer, and fall. Gains were 1.73, 1.38, 1.76 and .38 +.25pounds per day respectively for
spring, summer, fall and winter (Table 3). Dry matter intake was higher (P<.05) during fall and
winter than spring and summer which may be due in part to heavier animals. Intake per unit
weight was not different throughout the four periods. Table 3 presents feedlot performance
information by season. Dry matter per gain appears to increase throughout the study suggesting
decreased feed conversion as the bison grew. However, the low gains and tremendous variation
during the winter contribute to a very high standard error in that period.
Poor performance during the winter may be due to a photoperiod effect on intake by bison
(Stanton and Schutz, 1995). Wild species are known to consume large amounts of feed if
available during the late summer and fall to store up nutrients for winter (Chistopherson et al.,
1979). Lower intake and activity has been observed during colder darker months probably to
conserve energy expenditure from activity (Rutley, 1992).
More research is needed on photoperiod effects and possibly develop lighting strategies or
feeding regimes to counter this phenomena. An alternative feeding strategy would be to reduce
diet energy content for a more natural feeding pattern. However, reduced winter gains could
significantly decrease profitability in bison feeding. Artificial lighting has been shown to increase
intake in cattle (Peters et al., 1980; Tucker et al., 1984) which may respond less to photoperiod
than wild animals due to their long term domestication.
Because of the differences in gain during the winter period, dietary comparisons were made
using only the spring, summer, and fall seasons. The wheat screenings diet produced gains
significantly higher (P=.07) than crambe meal with gains from the other two diets intermediate.
However, crambe meal included in the diet of growing and finishing beef steer calves at up to
17% of intake did not alter consumption or gains (Anderson et al., 1993). Bison bulls gained
1.73, 1.53, 1.63 and 1.61 + .05 pounds per head per day for the wheat screenings, crambe meal,
wheat midds, and commercial diets respectively. Table 4 presents information on performance
by dietary treatment. Dry matter intake averaged 19.00, 20.05, 20.99 and 21.33 + 2.17 pounds
per day. Dry matter intake, feed per pound gain, and intake per unit weight of bison was similar
for all treatments. No interactions were observed for diet and season.
Feed costs per pound of gain were $.54 for wheat screenings, $.73 for both crambe meal and
wheat midds and $.89 for the commercial feed. Yardage, interest rates, and death loss were not
considered in determining feed cost per pound of gain. Keeping feed costs low without reducing
gains is imperative for profitable bison feeding. Using alternative feeds from grain processing,
especially wheat screenings, appears to produce the lowest feed costs. Feed costs can be
highly variable depending on distance to co-product sources and processing facilities as well as
labor, handling equipment, and storage facilities for ingredients and finished feeds.
Implications
Results of this study indicate bison will consume rations with a variety of ingredients similar to
cattle, provided the diet is palatable and nutritious. The wheat screenings based diet provide the
lowest feed cost per unit gain. Screenings, however, may be highly variable in nutrient content
depending on the source, year, and several other factors. It is not known if co-product feeds are
economically competitive with higher energy feed grains such as corn or barley.
Literature Cited
Anderson, V. L., W. D. Slanger, S. L. Boyles, and P. T. Berg. 1993. Crambe meal is equivalent
to soybean meal for backgrounding and finishing beef steers. J. Anim. Sci. 71:2608.
Christopherson, R. J., R. J. Hudson, and M. K. Christopherson. 1979. Seasonal energy expenditures and thermoregulatory responses of bison and cattle. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 59:611.
Koch, R. M., H. G. Jung, J. D. Crouse, V. H. Varel, and L. V. Cundiff. 1995. Growth, digestive capability, carcass, and meat characteristics of Bison bison , Bos taurus, and Bos x Bison. J. Anim. Sci. 73:1271.
Peters, R. R., L. T. Chapin, R. S. Emery and H. A. Tucker. 1980. Growth and hormonal response of heifers to various photoperiods. J. Anim. Sci. 51:1148.
Rutley, B. 1992. Average daily gains of feedlot finished plains bison. Bison Evaluation Unit Bison Bulletin. BB 92:1.
SAS, 1988. SAS/STAT, Users Guide (6.03 Ed.) SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC.
Stanton, T. L., D. Schutz, W. McFarlane, R. Seedig and D. Stewart. 1995. Effect of concentrate level in bison finishing rations on feedyard performance. Colorado State University.
Tucker, H. A., D. Petitclerc and S. A. Zinn. 1984. The influence of photoperiod on body weight gain, body composition, nutrient intake and hormone secretions. J. Anim. Sci. 59:1610.
Wheat Crambe Wheat
Ingredient Screenings Meal Midds
-------------------------------------------------------
Wheat screenings 66.80 -.- -.-
Corn grain 15.00 16.00 12.50
Crambe meal -.- 14.00 -.-
Wheat middlings -.- 30.00 66.20
Oat hulls 7.50 30.20 11.50
Molasses 5.00 5.00 5.00
TM salt 2.50 2.50 2.50
Vitamins/minerals 3.20 2.30 2.30
-------------------------------------------------------
100.00 100.00 100.00
Screenings Crambe Meal Wheat Midds Commercial Hay
----------------Pelleted Diets------------------
Dry matter, % 90.03 89.68 90.01 91.58 87.66
---------------Dry matter basis-----------------
Crude protein, % 14.89 15.11 14.35 14.24 8.29
Acid det. fiber, % 12.34 16.60 11.10 17.91 50.31
Neut. det. fiber, % 21.94 29.53 22.91 35.06 74.10
Ash, % 6.70 10.52 9.11 9.61 11.24
Fat, % 3.37 3.20 3.39 3.93 1.02
Mcal/gram 4.30 4.19 4.17 4.24 4.07
Phosphorous, % .75 .71 .52 .61 .09
Calcium, % .77 1.10 .94 1.14 .59
Season Spring Summer Fall Winter Std Err -------------------------------------------------------------------- Avg. wt, lb. 540 665 795 876 12.33 Avg. daily gain, lb. 1.73a 1.38a 1.76a .38b .25 Pellet intake, lb. 13.70a 13.34a 19.62b 15.96ab 2.23 Hay intake, lb. 5.94a 7.20ab 8.30b 11.54c .97 DM intake, lb. 17.67a 18.50a 25.13b 24.75b 1.96 DM intake, % body wt. 3.27 2.78 3.17 2.82 .27 DM intake/gain 10.24a 13.51a 14.41a 66.00b 19.85 --------------------------------------------------------------------a, b, c - values with different superscripts are significantly different, P<.05
Screenings Crambe Wheat midds Commercial Std Err
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial wt., lb. 463 471 481 469 19.43
Final wt., lb. 883 870 852 840 25.63
Hay intake/day, lb. 7.56 6.59 7.44 7.00 .33
Pellet intake/day, lb. 14.01 15.62 15.82 16.77 2.41
DM intake/day, lb. 19.00 20.05 20.99 21.30 2.17
Avg. daily gain, lb. 1.73x 1.53y 1.63xy 1.61xy .05
DM intake/gain 11.62 13.21 12.86 13.19 1.70
DM intake, % body wt 2.90 2.99 3.15 3.16 .34
------------------------------------------------------------------------
x,.y values with different superscripts are significantly different, p=.07
Wheat Crambe Wheat
Screenings Meal Midds Commercial
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ingredient cost/ton, $ a 67.03 80.70 87.36 -
Pelleted feed cost/ton, $ b 112.03 125.70 132.36 155.00
Hay cost/ton, $ 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00
Feed cost/hd/day, $ .94 1.11 1.20 1.44
Feed cost/lb gain, $ .54 .73 .73 .89
-------------------------------------------------------------------
a Based on ingredient prices of $30/ton for wheat screenings, $2.25/bu for corn, $70/ton for
crambe meal, $70/ton for wheat midds, $30/ton for oat hulls, $150/ton for molasses , $165/ton for
TM salt and $34.00/cwt for vitamin-mineral mixture