Hirano, K.

Nakanishi, Yuji

Shouji, A.

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress Liveweight Gain of Beef Calves and Reproductive Performance of Beef Cows on Two Bahiagrass Cultivars in Southern Area of Japan Yuji Nakanishi National Agricultural Research Center for Kyushu Okinawa Region, Japan K. Hirano National Agricultural Research Center for Kyushu Okinawa Region, Japan A. Shouji National Agricultural Research Center for Kyushu Okinawa Region, Japan Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/10-2/3 The XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. brought to you by COREView metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.ukprovided by University of Kentucky　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　 瞯 ]241　 瞯Grasslands/Rangelands Production Systems——— Integration of Crops , Forage and Forest SystemsLiveweight gain of beef calves and reproductive performance of beef cows on two bahiagrasscultivars in southern area of JapanY . Nakanishi , K . H irano , A . Shouj iNational A gricultual Research Center f or K yushu Okinawa Region , K umamoto , 861‐1102 , JapanE‐mail : yuj i＠ a f f rc .go .j pKey words : bahiagrass ,grazing ,tropical grass ,beef cows ,beef calvesIntroduction There are about ３００００ hectares of abandoned fields from paddy fields and orchards in less favored areas ( LFA) insouthern area of Japan . Recently the fields are increasing because farmers are advancing in age . On the other hand livestockfarming , especially beef calf production farming suffer hard times since free trade of beef . The purpose of this study was todevelop a beef calf production system to reduce costs and save workload by grazing on tropical pasture having high nutritionalvalue in LFA in southern area of Japan .Materials and methods Japanese black cows and calves were grazed on tetraploid bahiagrass cv . Nanou and diploid bahiagrasscv . Pensacola pasture from June to November . Rotational grazing was based on ２ weeks rotations with stocking rate of ４ cowsand ４ calves per hectare . Cows and calves were grazed without supplement feeding . Calves were weaned at four months of age .Liveweight was measured every week . Plasma concentrations of cholesterol , glucose and urea nitrogen of beef calves weremeasured every ２ weeks . Milk yield was measured every ４ weeks by the method of calf liveweight difference before and aftersuckling . Grass samples for chemical composition were collected every ２ weeks . The pasture was fertilized with ３８ kg N ,３８kgP２O５ , ３８kg K２ ／ha in May , July and September .Results Percentages of crude protein of Nanou changed from １４％ to １６％ in summer . Its value was higher than that ofPensacola . Percentages of Ob ( organic fraction b in cell wall) were lower than that of Pensacola . DM yield of two bahiagrasscultivars was similar . Average daily gain of calves on Nanou pasture was significantly greater than those on Pensacola pasture .Reproductive performance of cows on Nanou pasture was better than those on Pensacola pasture . Plasma concentrations ofcholesterol and urea nitrogen of calves on Nanou pasture were higher than those on Pensacola pasture . Milk yield of cows onNanou and Pensacola pasture was similar .　 Figue 1 Chemical composition o ftwo bahiagurass cultiv ars .Cp :crude p roteinOb :organic b f raction in cell w allTable 1L ive weight gain , blood biochemical level o f calves and rep roductive 倡per f ormance o f cows .Bithweight( kg ) ３１  .８ ３０ 煙.７Weaning weight( kg ) １３５  .２１ １１４ 晻.０ 倡Average daily gain( kg ) ０ 葺.８６ ０ P.６９ 倡Blood biochemical level 磑Urea nitrogen( mg / dl) １１  .７ ９ 垐.２Cholesterol( mg / dl) １１７ ".３ ９７ 煙.３Glucose( mg / dl) １１４ ".８ １１１ 抖.１Gestation period( days) ２８９ ".６ ２８６ 抖.２Postpartum interval to first estrus( days) ５６  .８ ６３ 煙.８Postpartum interval to conception( days) ６１  .６ ７３ 煙.０No ofartifiicial insemination １ 趑.２ １ 垐.４Milk yield( kg / day) ５ 趑.７ ５ 垐.５磑 Meansduringgrazingperiod倡 P ＜ ０ .０５Conclusions These results demonstrate that tetraploid bahiagrass cv . Nanou maintained high nutritional value and highproductivity in summer in this area with the result that beef calves grew rapidly and beef cows maintained good reproductiveperformance . Nanou is , therefore , suitable tropical grass in this area .ReferencesHigashiyama , M . and Hirata , M . ( １９９５ ) . Analysis of a Japanese black cattle rearing system utilizing a bahiagrass pasture .Grassland Science . ４１ : １０４‐１１３ .

Liveweight Gain of Beef Calves and Reproductive Performance of Beef Cows on Two Bahiagrass Cultivars in Southern Area of Japan

https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3247&context=igc

Liveweight Gain of Beef Calves and Reproductive Performance of Beef Cows on Two Bahiagrass Cultivars in Southern Area of Japan

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

University of Kentucky