Effect of forage availability and of fertilization of angola grass on milk production

Abstract

The experiment was carried out at the Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Gado de Leite/EMBRAPA, in Coronel Pacheco, MG, Brazil, throughout two periods of dry and rainy seasons. Milk production from crossbred Holstein-Zebu cows was measured under angola-grass (Brachiaria mutica (Forsk) Stapf) grazing conditions. Treatments were: (T_l) = dry matter availability (DMA) around to 1,700 kg/ha in the dry season and 2,000 kg/ha in the rainy season without fertilization; (T₂) = same DMA has in T_l, with the paddocks fertilized once a year, during the rainy season, with 125 kg/ha of N, 75 kg/ha of P₂O₅ and 80 kg/ha of K₂O; and, (T₃) = DMA of 2,600 kg/ha during the dry season, and 2,900 kg/ha in the rainy season, with the same fertilization as in T₂. Fat corrected milk yield per cow, per ha and stocking rates were: (dry season) = 6.1; 8.3 and 8.2 kg/cow/day; 9.6; 15.4 and 12.3 kg/ha/day and 1.6; 1.9 and 1.5 cows/ha; (rainy season) = 7.2; 9.1 and 9.7 kg/cow/day; 11.6; 12.1 and 17.5 kg/ha/day and 1.6; 2.2 and 1.8 cows/ha, respectively for treatments T_l, T₂ and T₃.