The objective of these studies was to investigate the use of alternative feedstuffs for cattle from crop residues or co-products of ethanol production. Experiments were conducted to investigate effects of including 40% (Dry matter basis; DM) wheat straw or corn stalklage in haylage based rations (Experiment 1) or different protein supplementation programs in wheat straw-based diets (Experiment 2) on the performance of pregnant beef cows over the winter months leading up to parturition, and investigate the effects of including 20% (DM) corn dried distiller's grains plus solubles (DDGS) or sorghum DDGS on performance of feedlot cattle during a high forage grower period and high grain finishing period. Results suggest that alternative feeds may be used in beef cow and grower/finisher diets without negatively impacting animal performance, although cows fed corn stalklage and steers fed sorghum DDGS in the grower phase did not perform as well as the other dietary treatments.