Dry matter intake question

[farmguy]

Herefords at least have an EPD for dry matter intake. My question is can an animal with high dry matter intake do better on poor quality roughage by consuming more. Or does an animal with high dry matter intake utilize less and eat more.

 

[Katpau]

Angus have an EPD for both DMI (dry matter intake) and for RADG (residual average daily gain). I imagine they are similar to Herefords. I believe DMI is simply a number to compare quantity consumed, and does not attempt to measure the animals ability to use that feed for gain. A larger animal would likely have a larger DMI, but may not always have the higher ADG (averaged daily gain). RADG is an attempt to compare an animals ability to turn his consumption into gain. (feed conversion ratios)
Here is a description of what they measure.

Dry Matter Intake (DMI), expressed in pounds per day, is a predictor of difference transmitting ability for feed intake during the postweaning phase, compared to that of other sires.

Residual Average Daily Gain (RADG), expressed in pounds per day, is a predictor of a sire's genetic ability for postweaning gain in future progeny compared to that of other sires, given a constant amount of feed consumed.

 

[greggy]

Will be interesting to read replies.

I have only ever looked at dry matter in regard to how much of a feed would be required so I can compare feeds and feed costs.

The animal would be an individual thing I imagine, just like 3 humans may get 3 different results from exactly the same diet and portions due to stomach size etc...