(Fwd) Re: grain- vs. grass-fed sheep

E. Ann Clark, Associate Professor (aclark@plant.uoguelph.ca)
Mon, 2 Nov 1998 11:57:51 EST

Folks: Some have expressed interest in further info on the sheep
study I referenced earlier (at Univ. of Connecticut), where grain
feeding was found to increase gain etc. but reduce net profit. The
author, Susan Buffler, kindly forwarded the following to me, with
permission to post to SANET. For further enquiries, please contact
her directly (see signature block below).

Her M.Sc. study results were as follows:

Treatment levels were based on feeding lambs 0, .75, 1.5 and 3% of
bodyweight. Lambs were weighed every three weeks and feed adjusted
accordingly.

Least-squares means for carcass characteristics and average daily gain
(ADG) of lambs fed varying levels of maize supplement on intensively grazed
pasture.

Treatment Level
Variable 0X 1X 2X 3X

Final liveweight (lb) 45.15aY 45.15a 46.15a 47.75a
Carcass weight (lb) 19.22c 20.92b 21.12b 23.33a
ADGy (kg day-1) 0.11c 0.11c 0.14b 0.18a
Dressing percent 42.57c 46.33b 45.55b 48.85a
Backfat thickness (mm) 2.29b 3.56bc 3.30b 4.83a
Loineye area (cm2) 13.35b 14.96a 18.90a 15.80a
Quality Grade 11.13b 11.60ab 11.33b 12.08a
Yield Grade 1.07b 1.33b 1.33b 1.79a
YMeans followed by the same letter within a row are not significantly different.
y Average daily gain based on time on treatments only.
 Quality grade based on numerical score. 10-12 = Choice -, Choice o,
Choice +, respectively. 13-15 = Prime -, Prime o, Prime +, respectively.

Mean total returns per carcass. Based on amount of grain fed until lambs
were removed form treatments combined across three years. Economic data
based soley on grain cost. No attempt was made to evaluate costs
associated with labor, land, or depreciation.

treatment level mean total returns
0 73.83b
1X 72.56b
2X 66.33a
3Xb 63.91a

Hope this is of use.

Sincerely,
Susan Buffler

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Susan Buffler

Research Associate
Department of Plants, Soils, and Biometeorolgy
Agricultural Sciences Building
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-4820

email: subuff@mendel.usu.edu
phone: (435) 797-4028
FAX: (435) 797-3376
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ACLARK@plant.uoguelph.ca
Dr. E. Ann Clark
Associate Professor
Crop Science
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
Phone: 519-824-4120 Ext. 2508
FAX: 519 763-8933
http://www.oac.uoguelph.ca/www/CRSC/faculty/eac.htm

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