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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Livestock Nutrient Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424286
Research Project: Strategies to Manage Feed Nutrients, Reduce Gas Emissions, and Promote Soil Health for Beef and Dairy Cattle Production Systems of the Southern Great Plains

Location: Livestock Nutrient Management Research

Title: Effects of timing of fat supplementation on intake, growth performance, carcass characteristics, and methane emissions of finishing beef cattle

Author
item GOUVEA, VINICIUS - Texas A&M Agrilife
item FORSTER, RYAN - Texas A&M Agrilife
item LONG, NATHAN - Texas A&M University
item PROCTOR, JARRET - Texas A&M University
item PRADO, MYKAEL - Texas A&M Agrilife
item HERNANDEZ, MARIO - Texas A&M Agrilife
item Koziel, Jacek
item BECK, MATTHEW - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Applied Animal Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/8/2025
Publication Date: 11/22/2025
Citation: Gouvea, V., Forster, R., Long, N.S., Proctor, J.A., Prado, M.B., Hernandez, M.A., Koziel, J.A., Beck, M.R. 2025. Effects of timing of fat supplementation on intake, growth performance, carcass characteristics, and methane emissions of finishing beef cattle. Applied Animal Science. 41(6):633-640. https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2025-02691.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2025-02691

Interpretive Summary: Feeding fat to beef cattle increases the energy intake needed for healthy growth. The surge in fat prices could impact its use, potentially leading to even complete removal from cattle diet. Researchers from ARS (Bushland, Texas), Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension, and Texas A&M University tested the effect timing of fat feeding on the amount of feed consumed, cattle growth, meat quality, and methane emissions. They found that feeding fat (corn oil) at 1.2% of diet did not affect cattle growth or reduce methane emissions. Further research is needed to determine what is the minimal fat feeding that improves cattle growth without increasing methane emissions.

Technical Abstract: Objective: This study evaluated the effects of the timing of fat supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits, and gas emissions of finishing steers. Materials and Methods: Fifty-four crossbred steers (initial BW = 451 ± 28 kg) were blocked in 2 BW blocks and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: (1) basal diet with no supplemental fat throughout the finishing phase (d 1 to 119; -FAT); (2) basal diet plus 1.5% supplemental fat (corn oil; DM basis) throughout the finishing phase (d 1 to 119; +FAT); (3) +FAT fed from d 1 to 58 followed by -FAT from d 59 to 119 (EarlyFat); (4) -FAT from d 1 to 58 followed by +FAT from d 59 to 119 (LateFat). Steers were individually fed in electronic gates (Calan gates; American Calan, Northwood, NH) for 119 d until they were shipped for slaughter at a commercial abattoir, where carcass data were collected. Daily enteric methane (CH4 ) production was evaluated using 2 automated head chamber systems (GreenFeed; C-Lock Inc., Rapid City, SD). Data were analyzed as a randomized block design with random effect of block and fixed effect of treatment. Results and Discussion: The dietary analyzed crude fat concentration was 4.5% for +FAT treatment. This was 1.2 percentage units higher than that of the -FAT treatment, with 3.3% crude fat. There was no treatment effect on BW, DMI, ADG, or G:F. There was no treatment effect on HCW, DP, fat thickness, rib-eye area, calculated NEm and NEg, and KPH. Steers fed +FAT had greater YG compared with EarlyFat, but no other differences in YG were observed. There was no treatment effect on gas emission responses. Implications and Applications: Supplementing corn oil at 1.2% of diet DM did not significantly affect growth performance or reduce CH4 emissions of finishing beef cattle, indicating that there may be a minimum threshold of fat inclusion to elicit appreciable changes.