Methods of Feeding Cane Molasses and Urea to Beef Cattle

Two feeding trials involving 9,184 steer days were conducted to study methods of feeding molasses to growing and fattening beef cattle. In the first trial 40 young steers were divided into 5 equal groups. Four of these lots received molasses and one lot received a control ration containing no molasses. Two of the molasses-fed lots received liquid molasses and the other two received dehydrated molasses feeds. One of the dehydrated mixtures contained cottonseed hulls as an absorbent and the other bagasse. All animals receiving liquid molasses made satisfactory gains. The gains of those receiving the dehydrated molasses were not satisfactory. The control and one molasses ration (ration 4) of the first trial were also included in the second trial. Similar results were obtained in either experiment, indicating the same value for these rations. The study was extended by adding urea to the rations of two other lots. Urea was dissolved in the molasses of either ration. In one ration urea supplied 51.3 percent of the protein in the concentrate and 43.2 percent of the protein in the total ration. Comparable figures for the other ration were 62.7 and 53.2. Similar gains were made by the lots receiving either level of urea. These gains were lower than those made by lots receiving the control ration. The difference, however, was not significant at the five percent level. More feed or energy was required to produce a unit of gain by the animals receiving urea. The urea did not alter the palatability of the molasses, i.e., feed refusals were no more frequent with the urea-fed animals. No harmful physiological effects of urea were apparent in any of the animals receiving it in their ration.