Cotton cake can be a sustainable and economically viable alternative to maize silage as an effective fibre source in the finishing diet of feedlot beef cattle. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the economic viability and the productive performance of Nellore steers finished in feedlots using cotton cake as a source of fibre, replacing maize silage in the diet. Twenty-four non-castrated Nellore steers, with an average weight of 377.8 kg and an age of approximately 24 months, kept in individual pens, were used. The diet was 30% roughage, in the form of maize silage, and a diet without forage containing 30% cotton cake as an effective fibre source, based on dry matter. The design used was completely randomised with two treatments and 12 replications. Effects (p < 0.05) of the dietary fibre source were observed for final body weight (BW), total weight gain, hot carcass weight (HCW) and carcass yield (CY). Revenue and net margin were higher for the treatment with cotton cake. The corn silage diet promoted higher total costs per animal (U$ 408.41 vs. U$ 336.06) and daily costs (U$ 3.65 vs. U$ 3.00). Greater differences were observed between fibre sources for the concentrate cost, and the maize silage diet had a cost U$ 98.29 higher than the treatment with cotton cake (U$ 314.04 vs. U$ 215.75). The cotton cake treatment had a higher cost of U$106.98/animal for the net margin. Cotton cake is a viable alternative and can be used as a source of fibre in forage-free diets without affecting production performance, promoting benefits in economic performance for finishing beef steers in feedlots.
Keywords: By-product; Cotton; Diet without forage; Feeding costs; Weight gain.
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