There are few reports on dual-purpose cattle systems characterization in Latin America and Colombia based on large datasets. This limits our understanding of their dynamics, and the establishment of public policies and government programs to improve their productive performance, promotion and rural development. This study aimed to characterize very small, small, medium, and large dual-purpose farms in Colombia from technical and environmental perspectives. The data analysed were obtained from the Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible and the LivestockPlus projects, which gathered information from a total of 1313 dual-purpose farms in Colombia. Farms were classified as being either very small (1 to 30 bovines), small (31 to 50 bovines), medium (51 to 250 bovines), or large farms (more than 251 bovines). Numerical and categorical variables were distributed into five components: (1) General Farm Information, (2) Herd Composition and Management, (3) Pasture Management, (4) Production Information, and (5) Environmental Information. Each component was analysed using the factorial analysis of mixed data (FAMD) method. According to FAMD, for the components General Farm Information, Herd Composition and Management, Pasture Management, and Production Information, the distribution of variables led to a spatial separation of the centroid from each category of producers. For the component Environmental Information, there was no separation of the centroid. In general, medium-sized and large farms showed better infrastructure, better machinery and equipment, and better reproductive practices; however, this was not reflected in a significant improvement of productive parameters, except for a lower mortality rate. Larger livestock producers need to plan their livestock husbandry activities properly, based on their better available infrastructure and livestock management practices, with the purpose of increasing productivity. The main features identified for each livestock producer category can be the basis to guide and establish policies and programmes for their technological development. The development of better livestock management practices and the implementation of technology, as well as technical assistance, should focus on small- and medium-sized livestock producers, which could lead to reaching a better productive and reproductive performance of dual-purpose systems.

No abstract

La determinación del consumo voluntario de materia seca (CMS) por los animales, es indispensable para determinar su capacidad productiva y su estado nutricional. Existen muchas técnicas para la estimación del CMS, siendo una de ellas la técnica de n-alcanos la cual permite además estimar la selectividad de los forrajes consumidos. El presente trabajo tuvo como objetivo estimar el consumo voluntario y la excreción fecal de nutrientes por novillos cebuínos alimentados en un sistema silvopastoril intensivo (SSPi). El estudio se realizó en el Centro Experimental Cotové, propiedad de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Se evaluaron seis novillos castrados con un peso promedio de 381±12 kg y se utilizó la técnica de alcanos para determinar CMS. El CMS promedio de forraje fue de 9,54 kg dia-1, del cual, el 75,24 % correspondió a consumo de gramíneas y el 24,76 % a consumo de leguminosa. En promedio, el consumo de nutrientes (kg) fue de 1,33; 5,8; 4,02; 1,13; 0,058 y 0,021 para PC, FDN, FDA, Cenizas, Ca y P respectivamente. Estos consumos fueron adecuados para el tipo de animales del estudio aportando una dieta de buena calidad nutricional. La digestibilidad fue del 53 % para el tratamiento sin inclusión del suplemento y del 58 % para el tratamiento con suplemento, lo que junto con el CMS, permite afirmar que los animales satisficieron sus requerimientos de los principales nutrientes. Las cantidades excretadas (kg) fueron 4,15; 0,44; 2,56; 1,78; 0,8; 0,054 y 0,02 para MS, PC, FDN, FDA, Cenizas, Ca y P, respectivamente. La excreción fecal de N por animal al año se calculó en 29,9 kg, contribuyendo a la producción de biomasa de las gramíneas acompañantes en el SSPi.

No abstract

In Colombia, cattle-fattening farms account for 20.7% of the Colombian cattle herd and play an important role in terms of economic and social benefits for rural communities. However, few characterization studies have been conducted on these production systems, which limit our understanding of their production dynamics and environmental impacts. This study aimed to characterize very small, small, medium, and large cattle-fattening farms from technical and environmental perspectives. The data analyzed were obtained from the Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible and the LivestockPlus projects, which gathered information from a total of 2618 farms, classified according to their cattle production orientation. From those, 275 cattle-fattening farms were classified as being either very small (1–30 bovines), small (31–50 bovines), medium (51–250 bovines), or large farms (more than 251 bovines). Numerical and categorical variables were distributed into five components: (1) general farm information, (2) composition and management of the herd, (3) pasture management, (4) production information, and (5) environmental information. Each component was analyzed using the factorial analysis of mixed data (FAMD) method. According to FAMD, for the components general farm information, herd composition and management, pasture management, and production information, distribution of variables led to a spatial separation of the centroid from each category of producers. For the component environmental information, there was no separation of the centroid. Better infrastructure, machinery and equipment, better pasture management, and better productive parameters and practices were observed in larger farms. This suggests that those public policies aimed at improving productive and environmental performance of the livestock sector should give priority to small- and medium-sized livestock producers considering their farm characteristics.