Let’s do a little reminiscing: Have you seen photos of belt-buckle cattle in the 1950s? Do you recall the tall calves you couldn’t see over in the 1970s? The beef industry has made a lot of genetic advancements rather quickly, but have we made those same strides in our understanding of nutrition?

On an episode of the Angus at Work podcast, our team sat down with Brian Fieser, beef field nutritionist with ADM Animal Nutrition, to discuss the future of nutrition, how we’re getting there, and what’s available to cattlemen now.

Building blocks

Nutrition isn’t often described as a simple field for good reason. When it comes to understanding how to fuel beef cattle to their full potential, whether newly bred cows or fed cattle, it all comes down to one thing: amino acids.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Whether heart tissue, longissimus muscle or intestinal tissue, all proteins are made up of amino acids, says Fieser. How can producers ensure they’re making the most of their resources from both sustainability and fiscal responsibility standpoints?

“The term we use at ADM is precision nutrition. When you feed something to the animal, [that ingredient] is in there to serve a purpose and not as fluff or waste,” assures Fieser. “That’s how we’ve approached the amino acid [issue]: Can we be more efficient by feeding the specific amino acids the animal needs so that they bypass the rumen and go straight to muscle creation?”

“Mother Nature had a lot of time on her hands when she made these systems. We’re just scratching the surface of how to figure out some of it.” — Brian Fieser

With the explosion of DNA technology, beef cattle genetics are moving at warp speed, Fieser says. However, our nutritional programs are more or less the same as they’ve been for the last 30, 40, 50 years. Our genetic progress is thus outpacing our nutritional progress.

The conundrum? Fieser puts it plainly: “We’re constantly trying to play catch-up, trying to figure out how we can get more out of these new genetic freaks that we’re raising compared to even just 20 years ago.”

One potential solution

In an attempt to create a solution, ADM launched AminoGain^®, advancing the concept of ruminant amino acid diet formulation to unleash an animal’s full genetic potential. It manifests genetic potential for gain, yielding best return on feed consumed through optimized rumen fermentation, maximum microbial protein production and supplying specific bypass amino acids in needed amounts and ratios.

“We do a lot of bull development. [This product] works on all cattle. Even common cattle today have more growth potential than cattle did 20 to 30 years ago,” explains Fieser, noting that the product has worked on all the cattle in both a growing and developing phase. “When you start [using] it with bulls and females, [the results are] just amazing. When you’re working with the elite of the elite, you can really see those cattle pop and respond when they get the nutrition that they wouldn’t otherwise get.”