Effect of stocking rate and silage supplementation on the growth of dairy cattle grazing Molasses grass pasture
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-3921.pab1982.v17.15704Keywords:
liveweight gain, holstein x zebu steer, heifer growthAbstract
An experiment was carried out at the National Center for Research in Dairy Cattle in Coronel Pacheco, MG, to measure the liveweight gain of cross bred Friesian-Zebu heifers and steers during the periods July/77 to April/78 and April/78 to April/79 when grazing Molasses grass pastures at stocking rates of 0.4 (C1), 0.8 (C2) and 1.2 AU/ha (C3), supplemented during the dry season with 0 (S1), 15 (S2) and 30 kg of maize silage/AU/day (S3). Heifers were between ten and twelve months of age and initial weight of 167.4 kg and the steers had nine and ten months with an initial weight of 133.3 kg. Estimates were made of liveweight gain, daily intake of silage and every two months, the presentation yield of the pastures. In treatments C2/S1 and C3/S1 the pasture became completely degraded by the end of the first experimental period. Pasture availability remained stable in the C1 stocking rate even at the S1 level of supplementation. Larger liveweight gains were obtained from the treatment combinations C1/S2 and C1/S3 in both experimental periods, although higher gains per hectare were observed in the C3/S3 and C2/S2 treatments. In treatments C1/S2 and C1/S3 animals reached 300 kg and 320 kg liveweight in the first and second periods respectively, at an age of 22 months. Silage supplementation was most economic in treatments C3/S3 and C2/S2 in the first and second periods respectively.
