Forty-eight yearling steers (average live mass = 192.8 and standard deviation = 3.7 kg) were blocked by mass and breed [Sussex (n = 32) and Simmentaler (n = 16)] and within blocks allocated randomly to one of four treatments (supplementation with 0, 1, 2 and 4 kg maize meal/day), each at one of two stocking rates [light stocking rate (LSR: 6 steers/ha) and heavy stocking rate (HSR: 10 steers/ha)]. Live mass gain/steer was 54.1 ± 4.3, 73.5 ± 5.4, 100.0 ± 6.1 and 118.1 ± 7.4 kg over the grazing period of 124 days, at supplementation levels of 0, 1, 2 and 4 kg maize meal/steer/day, respectively. Over all supplementation levels, live mass gain was 93.5 ± 7.6 kg and 79.3 ± 4.8 kg for the LSR and HSRs respectively. While the level of supplementation had a significant influence on fat thickness (PS 0.01), stocking rate did not (P > 0.05).