{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T02:00:18Z","timestamp":1781056818218,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,9]],"date-time":"2026-06-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780963200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Efficient grazing management is critical for optimising animal growth and carcass quality in dairy beef systems; however, the combined effects of turnout date to spring pasture and post-grazing sward height have not been well quantified. This study evaluated the effects of spring turnout date (early vs. late) and post-grazing sward height (3.5 vs. 5.5 cm) on steer performance, intake, and carcass attributes, over three production cycles in a dairy calf-to-beef system. A total of 188 dairy and dairy \u00d7 beef steers (initial body weight approximately 250\u2013285 kg) were used across three experiments, conducted in a pasture-based calf-to-beef system. Animals grazed for ~200 days followed by ~100 days of indoor finishing. Early turnout improved average daily gain during early- and mid-season (p &lt; 0.05 to p &lt; 0.001), but differences had disappeared by housing, with no effect on carcass traits (p &gt; 0.05). Grazing swards to 5.5 cm increased average daily gain at pasture (p &lt; 0.01) and housing weight in the three experiments (p &lt; 0.01). Animals grazed to 3.5 cm at pasture subsequently had a higher indoor finishing average daily gain (p &lt; 0.05). Grazing to a stubble height of 5.5 cm improved (p &lt; 0.001) daily gain at pasture but reduced finishing daily gain (p &lt; 0.001). Carcass weight per day of age and were unaffected by either factor (p &gt; 0.05), and no significant turnout \u00d7 post-grazing sward height interactions were detected for any measured variables (p &gt; 0.05). These findings indicate that maintaining a higher post-grazing sward height provides improved animal performance, while early turnout offers short-term gains, supporting grazing strategies that prioritise sward height management for sustained performance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16121790","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T00:58:12Z","timestamp":1781053092000},"page":"1790","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of Post-Grazing Sward Height and Early or Late Turnout Date to Pasture on the Performance of Dairy Cross-Bred Steers"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-5668-4451","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrew Mc","family":"Namee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life & Physical Science, Atlantic Technological University, Letterkenny, F92 FC93 Co. Donegal, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Denis Mc","family":"Crudden","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life & Physical Science, Atlantic Technological University, Letterkenny, F92 FC93 Co. Donegal, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Edward G.","family":"O\u2019Riordan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Teagasc, Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Grange, Dunsany, C15 PW93 Co. Meath, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103530","DOI":"10.1016\/j.agsy.2022.103530","article-title":"Farm-level modelling of bioeconomic, greenhouse gas emissions and feed\u2013food performance of pasture-based dairy\u2013beef systems","volume":"203","author":"Kearney","year":"2022","journal-title":"Agric. 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