Double purpose wheat under beef cattle grazing in Campos Gerais, Paraná State, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this work was to assess yield of double purpose wheat cultivar BRS 176 and cattle weight gain according to grazing periods, taking into account grazing intensity. The experiment was carried out in Castro, Paraná State, Brazil, in an Inceptisol, from May to November 2004. A completely randomized block design, with three replicates, was used. The treatments consisted of four grazing periods: T-0, zero day; T-15, 15 days; T-30, 30 days; and T-45, 45 days. Steers with 260 kg live weight were evaluated under continuous grazing, with variable stocking and daily forage allowance of 8% animal live weight. Grain yield was 3,999, 4,154, 3,210, and 1,588 kg ha^-1 for T-0, T-15, T-30, and T-45, respectively, and animal weight gain was 0, 181, 351, and 459 kg ha^-1. Cultivar BRS 176 has high grain yield potential under grazing and copes well with defoliation. Grazing on cultivar BRS 176 increases cattle average daily weight gain, and weight gain per hectare increases linearly with the increase in the grazing period.