Predictability of steer performance in the feedlot (Short communication)

It will be to the benefit of the feedlot industry if poor performing feeder cattle can be identified at an early stage during fattening and eliminated. This would require a close relationship between early performance and overall performance in the feedlot. The data of 280 steers in three experiments involving 19 treatments were used in analysis. Less than 40% of overall live mass gain was explained by the variation in the live mass gain in the first 5 weeks, whilst no consistent pattern in feed intake and feed conversion emerged which could be used in prediction.