wilted grasssilage,steers. Key words:Breed,bulls,fattening performance, high- crosses hadthehighestproductivityparameters. of fattening performance but numerically × HH PHF parameters analyzed the on effect significant no had breed total DM, crudeprotein, and netenergy utilization. Sire PHF ×CH,respectively) and better (P <0.01)silage DM, 60.2 dressing percentage and carcass (P <0.01):60.0vs.56.4%; gains (P <0.01):700vs.631g; 654 vs.579g;633vs.574g respectively) and bulls – byhigher average carcass weight × CH, × LM;PHF × HH;PHF 84.6 g;88.6vs.87.0g(PHF metabolic body weight(P <0.05):92.8vs.87.0g;94.1vs. were characterized by highertotal DM intake per unitof grass silagewithaDMcontent of 417gkg approximately 300 kg in each group. The animals were fed × CHcrosseswithinitial body weightof LM and8PHF 24 bulls and 24 steers, including 8 PHF × HH, 8 PHF × breed and category. The experimental materials comprised with asmallamountofconcentrate, depending onsire and supplemented silage madefromhigh-wiltedgrass (HH), ‘Limousin’ (LM)and ‘Charolais’ (CH) bulls, fed ‘Polish Holstein-Friesian’ (PHF) cowswith ‘Hereford’ fattening performance of hybridsproduced by crossing hybrids. The aim of thisstudywastodetermine the the mostfrequently crossed withdairycowstoproduce whereas ‘Limousin’,‘Charolais’ and‘Hereford’ bullsare offered In Polandbeefcattle are usuallyfedhigh-wilted grass silage ABSTRACT with concentrate at 35 gDMkg doi:10.4067/S0718-58392016000300011 Accepted: 11 April 2016. Received: 23October2015. Academy ofSciences05-110 Jabłonna,Poland. 2 * Bioengineering, Oczapowskiego 5, 10-719Olsztyn,Poland. 1 Jacek P. Michalski Cezary Purwin wilted grass silage-basedrations Charolais) bullsand steers offered high- Holstein-Friesian ×Hereford, Limousin or Fattening performance ofcrossbred (Polish The KielanowskiInstitute of Animal Physiology andNutrition, Polish Corresponding author([email protected]). University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Faculty of Animal CHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURALCHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 76(3) JULY RESEARCH 76(1)JANUARY vs. 58.9%; 60.2 ad libitum andsupplemented with concentrate, 1* , IwonaWyzlic vs. 56.6% (PHF × HH; PHF× LM; 2 , andZenon Nogalski CHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 76(3)JULY -1 W 0.75 1 , Zofia Wielgosz-Groth , for250d.Steers -1 , supplemented 1 - SEPTEMBER 2016 - MARCH 2016 forage in horizontal silos, excessive heating and feedout losses, the of compaction insufficient and density packing non-uniform the need to use expensive additives. However, it may also lead to in bunkersilos,whichprevents secondaryfermentation without most cases, silage is made from grass wilted to 40% DM and placed concentrate up to 40% total DM intake (Nogalski et al., 2013). In usually fedgrasssilage offered adlibitum land areaandthegrowingseasonisrelatively short, beefcattle are al., 2010).InPoland,wheregrasslandshaveahighshare of total control andtheuseofspecialist harvesting equipment (Purwin et production, including expenses associated with diseaseandpest is tooexpensivetobefedcattle due tohighcostsof maize supplemented with asmallamountof concentrate. Maize silage are fed roughage exclusively or roughage-based diets decreasing musclepH(Nogalskietal.,2013). period asitpreventsthedepletion of energy reservesrequired for stress, which is particularly important during the pre-slaughter testosterone levels, steers are mild-tempered and less prone to young bulls (Nogalski et al., 2014). Dueto their lower blood higher intramuscular fat content, incomparison with beeffrom from steers.Beefsteersowesitshighsensoryquality to a even athighprices,haveledtotheincreasedpopularityofmeat However, growingconsumer expectations for high-quality beef, 2014). 2013; al., et (Nogalski steers with compared efficiency, as average daily gains, carcassdressingpercentage and feed conditions, andtomeetmarketdemand(Albertíetal.,2008). carefully selectedtoproducecalveswelladaptedenvironmental fattening ability. Cattlebreedsusedinbreedingprogramsshouldbe The above breeds are characterized by different growth rate and with dairycowstoproducebeefhybrids(Nogalskietal.,2014). ‘Charolais’, and‘Hereford’ bullsaremostfrequentlycrossed et al.,2009;Huuskonen2013).InPoland,‘Limousin’, parameters andcarcassqualitytraitsincrossbredcalves(Simcic beef siresusedforcrossingisthemaindeterminantofperformance cattle (Kamieniecki et al., 2009; Pesonen et al., 2013a). The breed of dairy than quality meat and efficiency feed content, lean carcass higher values of average daily gains, carcass dressing percentage, dairy cowswithbeefbullswhoseoffspring are characterizedby converted frommilkproductiontobeefbycrossing competition betweendairyproducers. As aresult, manyfarmshave The liftingofmilkquotasintheEuropeanUnionhasincreased INTRODUCTION 1 , MonikaSobczuk-Szul Due to the low profitability of cattle fattening in Poland, beef Poland, in fattening cattle of profitability low the to Due In Poland,mostlyyoungbullsarefattened due totheir higher - SEPTEMBER 2016 1 ,

andsupplemented with

337 RESEARCHRESEARCH CHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURALCHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 76(3) JULY RESEARCH 76(1)JANUARY animal offered animals werefedgrasssilage From 130kgBW until the transfer tothe fattening unit, the milk replacer, hayandconcentrate, followedbyhaylage. with thegenerallyaccepted standards. The calveswerefed by looping an industrial rubber elastrator ring, in accordance castrated at purchase.Bloodlesscastration was carried out were placed in a rearing facility. One half of the calves were with ‘Charolais’ bulls(PHF×CH). × HH),eight with ‘Limousin’ bulls(PHF×LM)andeight Polish ‘Holstein-Friesian’ cows with ‘Hereford’ bulls (PHF including respectively eight hybrids produced by crossing The experimental materials comprised 24bulls and 24steers, LM, and‘Charolais’ CH)andcategory (bulls andsteers). study theeffects ofsirebreed(‘Hereford’ HH,‘Limousine’ in E) 19°51’ N, northeastern Poland. A 3×2factorial design wasusedto (53°35’ Bałcyny in Station Experiment A fattening trial was conducted at the Agricultural Animals, feeds,housinganddiets MATERIALS ANDMETHODS on sirebreedandcategory. supplemented with asmallamountofconcentrate, depending ‘Charolais’ bulls,fedsilage made from high-wilted grass and ‘Holstein-Friesian’ cowswith ‘Hereford’, ‘Limousin’, and performance of hybridsproduced by crossingPolish comparing thefatteningabilityofyoungbullsandsteers. beef crossesfedsilagemadefromhigh-wiltedgrassand could beexpandedbyanalyzing the performanceofdairy/ Pesonen etal.,2013a;2013b). The existingknowledge to 30%DM(Huuskonenetal.,2007;Huuskonen,2008; direct-cut grass silage or silage made from grasswilted ‘Charolais’ cattle and theircrosses,theanimalswerefed the fattening performance of ‘Hereford’, ‘Limousin’, and process (Purwinetal.,2009).Inmoststudiesinvestigating of structural carbohydrates is observed during the ensiling unwilted grass.Inthelatter case, moreintensivehydrolysis matter digestibility in comparison with silage made from high-wilted grass ischaracterized bya lower rate of organic and silage intake (Purwin et al., 2014a). Silage made from thus decreasing the energy value of silage, protein quality g DMkg were slaughteredinaccordancewithindustrialstandards. 90 km to the abattoir. After 24 hfasting and weighing, they unit. After 250d,animalsweretransportedoveradistance of 300 kgBW, after a30-dadaptation periodinthefattening Silage was dosed from a self-propelled feed cart (Seko, average. on station feeding roughage per animals five were System (Insentec BV, Marknesse, The Netherlands). There monitored individually using theRoughageIntake Control Netherlands), andgrasssilage adlibitum a concentrate feeding station (Insentec,Marknesse, The Calves ofknownorigin purchased at 2 or3wkofage The objective ofthisstudywastodetermine the fattening Over theentirefattening period, theanimals received 35 -1 ad libitum duringfattening, andconcentrate at2.5kg d -1 -1 W . Controlfattening wasstartedatapproximately 0.75 concentrate in fourportionsperday, from adlibitum . Silageintakewas , whichwasalso - SEPTEMBER 2016 - MARCH 2016 population mean, Ai 1 kgliveweightgainandcarcassgain. vitamin A, 50000IUvitamin D 3750 mgZn,50I,12.5Co,12.50Se,250000IU 79 gNa,48P, 28gMg,500Fe,2000mgMn,375Cu, cattle (Cargill, Warsaw, Poland) containing per kg: 235 g Ca, 19% rapeseed meal, and 4% mineral-vitamin mix for beef weighted down.Silagewasproducedwithoutadditives. Each silo wascovered with apolyethylene sheet and silos withatractor (laden weight7770kg)in0.5mlayers. Moline, Illinois, USA) and it was compacted in horizontal using aprecisionchopforageharvester(7050,JohnDeere, weather conditions. Wilted greenmaterial was harvested was teddedonceanditwiltedfor24hunderfavorable ear formation stage, with a drum mower. Green forage mineral fertilization was applied. Grasswasmownatthe L.) Adequate pratense L.,FestucarubraPoapratensis (Loliumperenne L.,Phleum grasses first-cut from silos, before themorningfeeding. animals was adjusted at 14-d intervals, at control weighing (at 08:00and16:00h). The amountofconcentrate offered to Curtarolo, Italy) and delivered to feeding stations twice daily where formula: traits were determined by theleast squares method using the × HH. The effects ofcategoryandsirebreed onfattening groups basedontheir breed: PHF ×LM,CH, and PHF category (bulls, steers), the animals were divided into three software (StatSoft, Tulsa, Oklahoma,USA). Within each Data wereprocessedstatistically usingStatistica ver. 10.0 Statistical analysis methods describedbyPurwinetal.(2010). N (ADIN),ammonium N of silages were determined by buffer-soluble N(BSN),proteinN,aciddetergent-insoluble ADL), water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC),pH,content of fiber NDF, acid detergent fiber ADF, and acid detergent lignin acids, fractionsofstructuralcarbohydrates(neutraldetergent nutritional value of all feeds and concentrations of carboxylic collected togetherwithsilagesamples. Germany) toa1mmparticle size. Concentrate samples were ground inan ultra centrifugal mill (ZM 200,Retsch, Haan, samples weredriedat60ºCinBinderdryers,and month duringfattening, and werestored at-25ºC. Thawed Silage sampleswerecollected before fattening and oncea Procedures andchemical analysis for meat, UFV kg (UFV fromtheFrench“unité fourragèreviande”=feedunit concentrate kg (kg DM Poland) werealsooffered tosupplementminerals. DL-alpha-tocopherol. Salt licks(LisalM,LNB,Kiszkowo, Concentrated feedwascomposedof77%triticale grain, Experimental silagewasproducedinconcrete horizontal Feed conversionwasexpressedbysilage(kgDMkg The proximate chemical composition, D-value and Yijk is thevalueofanalyzed parameter, μis Yijk =μ+ Ai +Bj(AB)ijeijk -1 ) andcrudeprotein(gkg is theeffect of category(1,2),Bj -1 ), totalDM(kgkg 3 , 1000mgvitamin E, 909mg -1 ) utilization per -1 ), netenergy -1 is ),

338 CHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURALCHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 76(3) JULY RESEARCH 76(1)JANUARY Net energy, UFV kg Acid Buffer-soluble-N Protein-N Ammonia-N Nitrogen fractions,gkg pH Total VFA Butyric Acetic Lactic Water-soluble D-value Acid detergent lignin Acid detergent fiber Neutral detergent fiber Crude protein Organic matter Dry matter, gkg n Table 1.Chemicalcompositionandnutritionalvalueoffeeds. experiment hadahigherNDFcontent(by100 to 150gkg reported by Manninen et al. (2011), silage produced in our used fordietformulation.Incomparisonwiththevalues because thesamebatchesoftriticaleandrapeseedmealwere concentrate remainedunchangedthroughouttheexperiment silage are presented in Table 1. The chemical composition of of silage andconcentrate, and the fermentation quality of The chemicalcompositionandcalculatednetenergy content Feeds RESULTS ANDDISCUSSION interaction, and the effect ofbreed(1,2,3),(AB)ij On DMbasis,gkg temperatures duringensiling(Purwinetal.,2014b). silages describedintheliterature,whichisindicativeofhigh was twofoldhigherinexperimentalsilagethanwiltedgrass ADIN, whichisindigestibleinthesmallintestineofruminants during wilting(Purwinetal.,2014b). However, the content of grass silagesandpointstorapidinhibitionofproteaseactivity had ahigh protein nitrogencontent,whichistypicalofwilted harvested atcomparablegrowthstages.Experimentalsilage 2009) forsilagesmadefromdirect-cutandwiltedgrasses silage was below the INRA reference values (IB-INRA, and limitedfermentation. The energy valueofexperimental silage resultedfromhighconcentrationsofNDFand ADIN, of WSC insilage(Purwinetal.,2010). The lowD-valueof concentrations oflacticacid,ahighpHandproportion effect onthefermentationprocess,asmanifestedbylow eliminated secondaryfermentationandhad a restrictive et al.,2009). A highdegreeofgrasswiltingpriortoensiling noted valuesweretypicalofgrasssilagesinPoland(Purwin DM) andalowercrudeproteincontent(by10to15g),butthe SEM: Standarderror ofthemean, VFA: volatilefattyacids, UFV: fromtheFrench“unitéfourragère viande”=feedunitformeat. 2 1 Signification Sum offormicacid,aceticpropionic “acid”,butyricacid,isobutyric and valericacid. Digestible organic matterinDM. detergent-insoluble-N acid acid 1 acid

2

carbohydrates -1

-1 -1 eijk DM -1 N-total is randomerror. is theCategory × Breed Silage 100 5.3 – 268 557 13.4 606 356 571 148 922 417 60 5.5– 10 1.4– 44 2.8– 62 7.0– 12 1.2– 49 4.70 2 0.5– 9 0.71 - SEPTEMBER 2016 - MARCH 2016 SEM 10.2 11.5 0.05 – 5.8 2.2 6.8 7.9 2.6 1.9 0.006

-1

Pesonen etal.,2013a).However, inourstudy sirebreedhad lowest average daily gains, respectively (Albertí et al., 2008; and ‘Hereford’ cattle are characterized by the highest and the three analyzed breeds have revealed that ‘Charolais’ respectively). than in PHF × CH and PHF × LM steers (by 0.2 and 1.0 kg, (by 0.1 and 0.4 kg, respectively), and in PHF × HH steers × CHbulls × LMandPHF PHF ×HHbullsthanin per kilogram live weight gain was numerically lower in numerically the lowest feed conversion. Drymatter intake crossbreeds werecharacterized × HH by than inbulls.PHF and carcassweightgainwerenumerically higher insteers silage intakeandtotalfeedperkgliveweightgain per kgcarcassweight gain (Table 3). Regardlessofsirebreed, per kg live weight gain, and all parameters of feed efficiency total feedintake, netenergy intake andcrudeproteinintake intake, silage on effect 0.01) (P < significant a had category numerically thehighestcarcassdressingpercentage. × LMcrosseshad than steers.InthegroupofsteersPHF groups hadnumerically higher carcassdressingpercentage sire breedandthecategoryofanimals.Bullsall between observed were interactions Nonsignificant 0.01). carcass dressing percentage and carcass weight gains (P < total feed intake per unit of metabolic body weight (P < 0.05), and intake silage influenced significantly Category steers. body weightgainorcarcassdressingpercentage of bullsand intake, feed weight, body final the thehighest on effect nonsignificant and weight total anddailyliveweightgains(Table 2).Sirebreedhad body final highest numerically PHF ×HHbullsandsteerswerecharacterized by the Performance Numerous studies investigating the growth potential of Feed conversion was not affected by sire breed, whereas Triticale 914 785 193 133 981 881 13 44 – – 1 1.21 Rapeseed meal 108 228 310 388 927 887 883 – – – – – – – – – – 1 1.01 Concentrate 198 166 926 72 – – – – – – – – – – 9 1.17 18.3 SEM – – – – – – – – – – – 5.8 7.9 7.1 8.2 0.02

339 CHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURALCHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 76(3) JULY RESEARCH 76(1)JANUARY by Simcic et al. (2009) for Charolais crosses (1032 gd by Simcic etal.(2009)forCharolaiscrosses steers inourexperiment were comparable with thatreported 2009). Average daily gains noted in PHF×CHbulls and Polish authors for cattle fed maize silage (Bilik et al., steers inourstudywerelowerthanthosereportedbyother continental counterparts. higher dailyliveweightandcarcassgainsthantheir crosses, and PHF × HH bulls and steers had numerically no impact on thegrowthrate of PHF×CHorHH Table 3.Effectofsire breed andcategoryonfeedconversionincrossbred bullsandsteers. Table 2.Effectofsire breed andcategoryonthefatteningperformanceofcrossbred bullsandsteers. 750 g grass silage with a high moisture content and D-value of fed bulls ‘Hereford’ finishing study whose in (2011) al. et of ‘Hereford’ cattle was also demonstrated by Manninen higher proportionofconcentrates. High growthpotential can achieve highweightgainsalsowhenfeddietswitha silage andthatunderextensive feedingsystemsbeefcattle cattle are well adapted to fattening systembasedongrass analyzed categories, which could suggest that ‘Hereford’ had thenumerically highest average daily gainsinall al., 2013a). In presented study PHF×HHbulls and steers higher averagedailygainsof1321to1557g(Pesonen et ‘Charolais’ bullsandsteerswerecharacterized by * bulls, SEM:standarderrorofthemean,B:sirebreed,C:category, I:interaction, UFV: Fromthe French“unitéfourragèreviande”=feedunitformeat. PHF × HH: Crossbredcalves sired by Hereford bulls, PHF × LM: crossbred calves sired by Limousin bulls, PHF × CH: crossbred calves sired by Charolais * bulls, SEM:standarderrorofthemean,B:sirebreed,C:category, I:interaction,UFV: FromtheFrench“unitéfourragèreviande”=feedunitformeat. PHF × HH: Crossbredcalves sired by Hereford bulls, PHF × LM: crossbred calves sired by Limousin bulls, PHF × CH: crossbred calves sired by Charolais Total intake, gDMkg Carcass weightgain,g Carcass dressingpercentage,% Daily liveweightgain,g Live weightgain,kg Grass silageintake,gDMkg Crude protein,g Net energy, UFV Total, kgDM Grass silage,kgDM Daily intake Final liveweight,kg Initial liveweight,kg Crude protein,g Net energy, UFV Total, kgDM Concentrate, kgDM Silage, kgDM Feed conversion/kgcarcassweightgain Crude protein,g Net energy, UFV Total, kgDM Concentrate, kgDM Silage, kgDM Feed conversion/kgliveweightgain Specification Specification , , ** ** Average daily gains recorded in PHF ×LMbulls and Significantatthe0.05and0.01probabilitylevels,respectively Significant atthe0.05and0.01probabilitylevels,respectively kg -1 , supplemented with concentrate at 3.2 kg DMd

-1 W 0.75 -1

W 0.75

1324 1170 1898 1136 Bulls Bulls 700 293 597 305 51.7 60.0 87.0 12.2 11.4 8.0 8.5 5.1 5.0 7.3 6.9 7.3 3.0 4.3 PHF ×HH PHF ×HH 1381 2204 1244 1121 Steers Steers 631 280 580 300 58.1 56.4 92.8 13.2 14.2 - 8.3 8.9 5.6 5.3 8.9 7.4 8.0 3.0 5.0 SEPTEMBER 2016 - MARCH 2016 . . 1087 1248 1915 Bulls Bulls 1154 654 272 569 297 50.5 60.2 84.6 12.6 12.3 7.5 8.0 4.8 PHF ×LM PHF ×LM -1 5.0 7.4 7.0 7.4 3.0 4.4 -1 ). , 1351 2374 1397 Steers Steers 579 982 245 543 297 58.2 52.2 58.9 94.1 87.0 13.0 15.3 analyzed silagewas667gkg ‘Hereford’ bulls (1476 gvs.1300g),but the D-value of the gain was noted in purebred ‘Charolais’ bulls than in purebred In astudybyPesonenetal.(2013a),higheraveragedaily study was4percentage points lowerthaninourexperiment. However, carcassdressingpercentage reported in the above were characterized by averagedailygain of1588to1808g. CH bullsandsteers was21to230glower, whichresulted bulls. In our experiment, crude protein intake by PHF × crude proteinintakeof1282 to 1491ginyoung‘Charolais’ breeds (Huuskonen,2008).Pesonen etal.(2013b)reported responsive to protein level in the diet than early maturing is evidencethatcattle of late maturing breeds aremore not be fully realized in the applied dietary treatments. There which suggests that the genetic potential of animals could LM andPHF×CHcrossesinourstudywereunsatisfactory, nutrient availabilityofsilage(KrizsanandRandby, 2007). excessive heatinginthesiloreducedpalatability and intake waslimited by decreaseddigestibility and because authors (Keadyetal.,2008;Manninen2011). Silage lower inourstudythanexperiments performed by other 8.1 8.7 5.4 5.8 9.5 8.4 9.0 3.4 5.6 The average daily live weight gainsachieved by PHF× Nutrient intakeperunitofmetabolicbodyweightwas 1052 1261 1993 1198 Bulls Bulls 633 263 554 291 60.2 12.0 12.8 7.6 8.1 4.9 PHF ×CH PHF ×CH 5.1 7.7 7.2 7.7 3.1 4.6 1015 1295 2260 1278 Steers Steers 574 254 554 300 53.9 56.6 88.6 13.6 14.6 7.8 8.3 5.1 5.7 8.8 7.7 8.2 3.3 5.0 45.5 24.6 SEM 12.8 21.7 21.8 SEM 0.22 0.30 0.10 0.23 0.14 0.16 0.06 0.12 1.32 0.41 5.4 1.30 0.12 0.14 0.13 6.5 2.1 -1 DM. B B ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** C C * *

I I

340 CHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURALCHILEAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 76(3) JULY RESEARCH 76(1)JANUARY and PHF×CHcrosses,respectively. × LM PHF × HH, increased to16%,24%,and14%inPHF percentage, the differences per kilogram carcass weightgain feed conversion ratio (FCR), andduealowercarcass dressing a lowerability to synthesizeproteincontributedahigher In steers,higherenergy andproteinintakeaccompanied by leading tohigherenergy× HHcrosses, andproteinintake. was observedinsteers,particularly× LMandPHF inPHF higher than inourstudy. Highersilage intake on aDMbasis who analyzed feed rations with nutrient concentrations those reportedbyotherresearchers(Pesonenetal.,2013a), live gains ofbullswerelowerthanexpected and lowerthan losses inbullsduetomounting each other. The average daily together infree-stalls,whichprobablyledtogreaterenergy were observeddespitethefactthatallanimalshoused fat thansteers(Nogalskietal.,2014). The abovedifferences less deposit and muscle more efficiency. produce feed Bulls significantly higher significantly from resulted and which intake, feed percentage, lower dressing carcass and gains weight carcass daily weights, body final higher significantly quality ofproteinfromhigh-wiltedgrasssilage. due tothelow It appearsthathighproteinconversionwas silage accounted for 56%to60%oftotalproteinintake. ‘Charolais’ crosseswas20%higher. Proteinintake from by Pesonenet al. (2013b), whereas feed conversion for was comparable with that reported for purebred HH bulls per kilogram carcass weight noted in PHF × HH bulls D-value ofsilage(Keadyetal.,2008).Feedconversion probably affectedmaturing breeds,whichwas bythelow weight gain was lowerinPHF×HHcrossesthan in late- and averagedailygains.Nutrientintakeperkilogramlive intake DM similar from result could which efficiency, feed intestine (Purwinetal.,2014b). proteins, and to lower digestibility of protein flowing into the availability of N compounds for the synthesis of bacterial of Nfractions in experimental grass silage point tolower al., 2007; Pesonenet al., 2013a;2013b).Suchproportions requirements. PHF ×LMandCHcrosses, whichhavehighnutrient on high-wilted grass silage limited the growth potential of were found between PHF × LM crosses. Fattening based fattening performance than steers, and the greatest differences productivity parameters.Bullswerecharacterized by better of performance produced inbunkersilos.PHF×HHcrosseshadthehighest the fattening on silage crossbred bullsandsteersfedhigh-wiltedgrass effect nonsignificant The results of this study indicate that sire breed had CONCLUSIONS with aDMcontent lower than 300 gkg nearly twofoldlowerthanthatnotedintypical silages Additionally in our study, theBSNcontent of silagewas from relatively low silage intake and its low protein content. In comparisonwithsteers,bullswerecharacterized by Crossbred bullsandsteerswerecharacterized by similar -1 (Huuskonenet - SEPTEMBER 2016 - MARCH 2016 Nogalski, Z., P. Pogorzelska-Przybylek, Z. Wielgosz-Groth, M. Manninen, M., M.Honkavaara, L. Jauhiainen, A. Nykanen, and A.M. Krizsan S.J.,and A.T. Randby. 2007. The effect offermentation Keady, T.W.J., F.O. Lively,Kilpatrick, andB.W. D.J. 2008. Moss. Kamieniecki, H., J. Wójcik, R. 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