Performance and feed intake of beef heifers on rotational grazing of natural grassland receiving protein and energy supplement in cool season

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance and feed intake of grazing beef heifers on two grazing intervals determined by thermal sum related to leaf elongation duration during cool season on natural grasslands. A complete randomized block design experiment with two treatments and three replications was conducted from May to September 2011 in the central part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The treatments were two thermal sums calculated at 375 and 750 degrees-days (DD) to determine the intervals between grazing periods in a rotational grazing system. Thirty six beef heifers with average age of 18 months old and (initial body weight = 220±14kg) were used, all heifers received ground corn supplement at a rate of 5g kg-1 of body weight per day, at 2p.m., throughout the experiment and had free access to mineral and protein supplementation (450g kg-1 of CP). Similar average daily gain (ADG), beef production gain (BPG) and feed intake (FI), were obtained in both treatments. Leaf elongation duration is an alternative grazing management tool for improved animal production and to increase animal stocking rate

Beef heifers grazing behavior and herbage intake in natural grassland under rotational grazing

It was evaluated the effect of two rest intervals between grazing occupations in rotational grazing; 375 and 750 DD (degree-days); based on the cumulative thermal sum necessary for leaf expansion of native grasses of two functional groups over the grazing behavior variables from beef heifers with 12 months old. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized block design, with two treatments, three replications and measures repeated over time. Grazing behavior was assessed in three occasions (Nov 2011, Jan and Mar 2012), with 24h each. The herbage intake was estimated using an external marker (Cr2O3). The leaf mass was similar among the rest intervals, with a mean of 1261kg DM ha-1. The average grazing time was 627.4min day-1 and bite rate was 37.1 bites min-1. The average number of daily meals was 5.9 with an average of 118.5 minutes. Number of feeding stations visited per minute was 6.1 and the feeding stations permanence time was of 12 seconds. There was a reduction only on grazing time and bite rate over the periods. The range of thermal sums evaluated to define the rest intervals in rotational grazing proved no effect on heifers' grazing behavior and herbage intak

Morfogênese de gramíneas nativas do Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil) submetidas a pastoreio rotativo durante primavera e verão

O trabalho objetivou determinar a influência de intervalos de pastoreio rotativo sobre a morfogênese de cinco gramíneas nativas da região central do Rio Grande do Sul (RS), agrupadas segundo uma tipologia funcional, nas estações de primavera e verão. Foram avaliadas taxa de aparecimento, elongação e senescência foliares (TAF/TEF/TSF), filocrono e duração de vida e de elongação foliares (DVF/DEF) em Axonopus affinis, Aristida laevis, Andropogon lateralis, Paspalum notatum e Paspalum plicatulum, sob dois intervalos de pastoreio rotativo, definidos por somas térmicas (°C), 375 e 750 graus-dia, na primavera 2010 e verão 2010/2011. Não houve diferença significativa entre intervalos de pastoreio, mas houve entre espécies e entre estações. Paspalum notatum se destacou por apresentar adaptações bem marcadas ao pastejo. Axonopus affinis e P. notatum foram as espécies com maiores TAF e menores DVF, já A. lateralis apresentou características morfogênicas que contradizem a literatura. Quanto às estações, primavera se caracterizou como a estação de crescimento, e verão, como o início do florescimento. Pastejo afeta a morfogênese de forrageiras, no entanto, os intervalos de pastoreio usados não têm efeito sobre o desenvolvimento das espécies e a influência estacional é marcante no desenvolvimento dessas gramíneas