Texas scientists have found that dried distillers’ grains can minimise the effect of Bermuda grass getting harder for cattle to digest as the plants mature.

The research focuses on a type of Bermuda grass, Tifton 85, which is a common forage grass across the southern and southeastern parts of the US. Dried distillers’ grains, a byproduct of the ethanol industry, can be used to provide some of the nutrients the cattle lose out when the grass is further into season, according to a news release this month from the American Society of Agronomy. The study suggests a two-season grazing strategy, where animals could graze without the distillers’ grain supplement in the early summer and with it in the later part of the summer.

“Due to the ramp-up in ethanol production over the past few decades, there has been an abundance of this byproduct in the beef industry,” said Monte Rouquette, a professor with Texas A&M AgriLife Research.

 

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