By Larry Stalcup, Contributing Editor
Feedyards seek rumen-pleasing rations designed to boost animal health and generate more efficient gains. When it comes to getting calves or yearlings started at the bunk, Cargill’s RAMP receiving ration continues to help cattle show strong performance during early, stressful times in their comingled environments.
When developed in 2010, RAMP was made available to commercial feedyards to complement Cargill’s Sweet Bran, a feed product, fed at 20 percent of the ration and designed to improve rumen health and increase energy intake in finishing cattle. RAMP provided feedyards with a starter ration that was nutrient dense and efficient. It also helped reduce mill time that’s normally needed to manufacture the feedyard’s own receiving ration.
“RAMP showed that incoming cattle could adapt quickly to bunk feeding,” says Maggie Youngers, Ph.D., senior technical service representative for Cargill Branded Feed in Blair, Neb. “It provided feedyard managers with better metabolic control over those cattle.”
Early research by Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension in Bushland and the University of Nebraska highlighted the benefits of using RAMP as a starter ration. Research this year at the West Texas A&M University Research Feedlot in Canyon is further examining how the starter ration can help cattle improve their performance.
Kendall Samuelson, Ph.D., associate professor and member of the WTAMU Feedlot Research Group, says her overall research involves investigating the interaction between an animal’s nutrition and health. That includes nutrition during an animal’s receiving period.
“In particular, we are evaluating ways to mitigate bovine respiratory disease (BRD), ruminal acidosis and liver abscesses,” Samuelson says. “In our current research, we’re examining how RAMP can play a part in the receiving diet for high-risk cattle, yearlings and other cattle, such as beef-on-dairy crosses.”
One of RAMP’s unique characteristics as a starter ration is that it doesn’t contain any corn or grain. “It provides an energy concentration but without the starch content,” Samuelson says. “There’s a potential to minimize digestive issues because we can take advantage of the fiber in RAMP, which is easily digestible.”
The result is a healthier rumen, which promotes more consistent eating patterns and increased energy intake that carries over to the finishing phase.
“RAMP has a unique impact on the rumen and the consumption patterns of the animal,” Youngers says. “That helps the rumen microbes, which helps the animal more readily adapt to the finishing diet. Over the entire feeding period, the animal eats more and eats more consistently, compared to a traditional starter diet.”
Previous research by UNL and A&M AgriLife, as well as commercial performance data show, that RAMP can add stronger profit potential to fed cattle. There is a 5 percent increase in average daily gain, a 4 percent improvement in feed conversion, about 15 pounds of additional hot carcass weight, and a nearly $20 per head greater profit after the same number of days on feed as cattle on a traditional high-roughage ration, Youngers says.
Samuelson says the WT research hopes to determine “if we need traditional roughage like hay or silage in a receiving ration and if so, how much. We also hope to learn the best way to manage the diet during the receiving period and transition to the finisher.”
Part of the WT research on more high-risk cattle involves about 400-pound calves shipped straight to the feedyard after weaning. Samuelson says those cattle would likely be on the RAMP ration longer than the typical 21 to 28 days. “We need more research to understand how to use these products in those types of cattle,” she says.
Youngers says the versatility of RAMP lends itself to helping straighten out lighter weight cattle. “Yearlings adapt quickly to a 21- to 28-day RAMP receiving ration,” she says. “With appropriate bunk management, lighter weight cattle can achieve similar results.”
She explains that lighter cattle can adapt to 40 days or more on the ration if it is fed in eight to 10 different stepped-up rates, instead of only four to five feeding steps for yearlings.
Youngers notes that a healthy rumen can often reduce acidosis and potential liver abscess problems. “A healthy rumen helps a broader range of microbes flourish,” she says. “The animal converts the entire diet into needed energy. RAMP promotes a balanced volatile fatty acid (VFA) profile and, in turn, greater absorption of the VFAs through the rumen wall.
“VFAs aren’t being produced faster than they can be absorbed, as opposed to what can occur in a traditional high-grain diet. Sweet Bran and RAMP maintain a stable rumen pH over the feeding period, reducing cyclical feed intake and the chance for acidosis.”
A healthier rumen promotes more consistent eating patterns and increased energy intake that carries over to the finishing phase.
WT has been a leader in liver abscess research. Samuelson adds that the reduction in corn and a less high-starch diet may address liver abscess problems that impact many beef-on-dairy calves at a higher rate than calves from beef cattle breeding programs. “However, we still need to understand exactly what role the diet plays in liver abscess prevalence,” she says.
Another key benefit of the RAMP ration is that it is delivered as a total mixed ration. “Feedyards don’t have to deal with manufacturing the starter ration,” Samuelson says. “They can focus on the finishing ration. And if they handle high-risk cattle, they can put more focus on animal health.”
WTAMU expects to have data on its RAMP study by next spring. For more on RAMP as a starter ration, visit https://sweetbran.com/benefits/ramp.
