In the first experiment, 40 medium-frame beef steers (250911 kg) were fed individually for 140 d a diet based on grass silage offered for ad libitum consumption and supplemented with either 3.5 kg of DM d1 of cracked corn (CC) or ground corn (GC) and with 450 g of DM d1 of solvent extracted (SS) or lignosulfonate-treated soybean meal (SoypassTM; SP).