RESUMO -A avaliação correta do valor nutricional da forragem passa obrigatoriamente por emprego de metodologias adequadas. A qualidade da forragem depende dos produtos da fermentação, no caso da silagem, ou da magnitude das perdas de compostos solúveis e atuação de microrganismos no caso do feno. A abordagem do tema:Avanços metodológicos na avaliação da qualidade da forragem conservada, na 44 a Reunião Anual da Sociedade Brasileira de Zootecnia, tem como objetivo destacar as principais metodologias empregadas na avaliação específica de forragens conservadas, adicionais às avaliações tradicionais de composição químico-bromatológica desses volumosos, e colocar em discussão a necessidade de padronização de procedimentos analíticos. Assim, a revisão prioriza a descrição e sistematização de métodos físicos e químicos importantes para serem implementados na avaliação de forragens conservadas, na tentativa de homogeneizar tais procedimentos. Os recursos metodológicos disponíveis atualmente permitem não somente quantificar, mas também qualificar perdas ocorridas no processo de conservação, exposição aeróbia e oferta dos volumosos aos animais. Esse fato sugere que a adoção de estratégias de manejo dessas forragens deverá, preferencialmente, ser acompanhada de avaliação de perdas integradas no processo. Palavras-chave: análises físicas, ensilagem, fenação, microrganismos, perdas Methodological advances in evaluation of preserved forage quality ABSTRACT -The suitable evaluation of nutritional value of forages depends on the adoption of appropriate methodologies. Forage quality is highly dependent of fermentation products, in case of silage, and the losses of soluble compounds and microorganisms activity in the case of hay. The theme "Methodological advances in evaluation of preserved forage quality" at the 44 th Annual Meeting of Brazilian Society of Animal Science has as main goals to highlight the more useful and particular methodological procedures for conserved forages and additional to the standard chemical analysis.. Analytical procedures for preserved forage should suffer a standardization to permit comparisons of results obtained by the world wide laboratories. This review brings to discussion the description and systematization of important physical and chemical methods to be implemented in preserved forage evaluation. The methodologicalprocedures available permit not only quantify, but also permit qualify the losses occurred during preservation process and across the aerobic exposition of the roughage source during feed out. It suggests that the adoption of any management strategies for conserved forages may depend on an evaluation accordingly fit to the losses observed in the overall process.

RESUMO -O manejo do pastejo permite que sistema com base na utilização de pastagem propicie altos rendimentos por animal e por área. Para isto, devem-se utilizar critérios de manejo com intuito de controlar, simultaneamente a qualidade e a quantidade de forragem e manter a sustentabilidade do sistema. A intensidade de pastejo é dinâmica, jamais permanece a mesma, mudando com a taxa de consumo pelos animais e também pelo crescimento das plantas, variando de hora a hora e dia a dia, por isso deve ser controla sistematicamente. Neste cenário, o consumo de forragem parece ser o fator que mais explica as variações no desempenho animal em relação a qualidade da forragem. A suplementação da dieta dos animais em pastejo com concentrado permite aumentar o desempenho de animais, reduzindo a idade de abate ou a da primeira cria. Contudo, as características nutricionais do suplemento devem variar em função da quantidade e da qualidade da forragem ofertada. Ao suplementar a dieta dos animais em pastejo com energia e proteína, pode-se manejar pastos mais baixos em relação a suplementação apenas com sal mineral, sem que ocorra redução da densidade populacional de perfilhos. Estas estratégias de manejo podem reduzir a probabilidade de degradação do pasto. Desta forma, a suplementação da dieta de animais permite aumento na capacidade suporte do pasto. Palavra-chaves: composição química, digestibilidade, gramíneas tropicais, manejo, pastejo, suplementos Supplementation of beef cattle as strategy of pasture managementABSTRACT -The grazing management system based on the intensive pasture utilization result in a high animal and area yield. In order to that to be possible, it should be used a management criteria aiming to control, simultaneously the quality and the amount of forage, maintaining the sustainability of the system. The grazing intensity is dynamic, it never keeps the same status, it can be changed with the animals rate intake, and also by the plants growth, changing every hour and day, due to that, it should be controlled systematically. In this scenery, the forage intake is the main factor which explains the variations in the animal performance in relation to the forage quality. Energy and protein supplementations of the grazing animals increase performance, reducing slaughter and the first birth age. However, the nutritional characteristics of the supplement should vary in function of the amount and quality of the forage allowed. Pastures grazed by supplemented animals can be managed at a lower height, compared to those grazed by animals supplemented with only mineral salt, without reducing the tillers population density. These management strategies can reduce the probability of future pasture degradation. Thus, supplementation of the diet of the grazing animals can increase the pasture carrying capacity.Key Words: chemical composition, digestibility, grazing, management, pasture, supplements IntroduçãoA partir da década de 90 profundas alterações tem ocorrido no cenário mundial da pecuária de corte associada à abertur...

A three-year-long field experiment was conducted in a continuous grazing system with a variable stocking rate to evaluate effects of increasing nitrogen levels in Marandu grass ( Brachiaria brizantha Hochst ex A. Rich Stapf “marandu”) on herbage mass, forage accumulation rate (FAR), forage quality, stocking rate (SR), average daily gain (ADG), gain per hectare (GPH), and gain per kg of applied N. The experimental design was completely randomized with four treatments (control without application of N, and 90, 180, and 270 kg N ha −1 year −1 ) and three replicates (paddocks per treatment); nitrogen was applied in the form of urea. Herbage mass, crude protein (CP), FAR, SR, GPH, and the nitrogen nutrition index increased with increasing nitrogen level (P < 0.05), whereas the neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre, and nitrogen usage efficiency decreased with increasing nitrogen level (P < 0.01). Crude protein was higher than 12% and NDF lower than 60% in all treatments. Nitrogen application rate affected ADG (P < 0.05) but did not fit any equation. The highest ADG was 90 kg N ha −1 year −1 (985 g animal −1 day −1 ). Increasing the nitrogen level is a promising way to improve Marandu grass production, nutritive value, and animal production.

um dos aditivos. Os dados foram analisados em esquema fatorial 4 × 3 com três repetições para cada tratamento. Foram determinadas as perdas ocorridas durante o processo fermentativo nas formas de gases e de efluentes e a recuperação da MS. Durante a exposição aeróbia, determinaram-se a recuperação da MS e a estabilidade aeróbia medida pela variação da temperatura. A associação de L. buchneri e NaOH reduziu as perdas por gases e efluentes e elevou a recuperação da MS. No período após abertura, destacou-se a atuação do benzoato de sódio em manter o pH com variação de apenas 0,1 unidade em cinco dias de exposição aeróbia e dos inoculantes L. buchneri e P. acidipropionici + L. plantarum em prolongar o tempo para elevação da temperatura de 34 horas nas silagens controle para 54 e 50 horas, respectivamente.A ensilagem de cana-de-açúcar requer a inclusão de algum aditivo eficiente no controle das perdas quantitativas durante a fermentação e a exposição aeróbia.Palavras-chave: estabilidade aeróbia, fermentação, inoculantes, silagem, valor nutritivo Losses evaluation of the sugar cane silage treated with chemical and microbial additives ABSTRACT -The experiment was carried out to evaluate sugar cane silage treated with chemical additive: urea 1.5%, sodium benzoate 0.1%, and sodium hydroxide 1.0% on the wet basis, associated with Propionibacterium acidipropionici + Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus buchneri, plus control silage in a factorial scheme 4 x 3, with three replications.The gas and effluents losses during the fermentation phase, and dry matter recovery were determined. During the aerobic phase were determined the dry matter recovery and aerobic stability through the temperature variation. The Lactobacillus buchneri and NaOH association reduced gas and effluent losses and increased the dry matter recovery. At the aerobic phase, the sodium benzoate maintained the pH values, with changes of 0.1 unit during five days. The time to temperature elevation increased from 34 hours on the control silage to 54.0 and 50.0 hours, respectively on the silage inoculated with Propionibacterium acidipropionici + Lactobacillus plantarum or Lactobacillus buchneri. The sugar cane silage production required an efficient additive inclusion which can control the quantitative losses during the fermentation and aerobic phases.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of grazing height and supplementation levels of Marandu pastures on average daily gain (ADG), gain per hectare (GPH) and methane (CH 4) emissions during the wet season under continuous stocking by Nelore yearling bulls. Exp. 1: three grazing heights were evaluated: 15, 25 and 35 cm, combined with 0.3% of BW of a supplement (161 g crude protein (CP)/kg and 20.1 MJ gross energy (GE)/kg on dry matter basis (DMB)). Experimental design was completely randomized (three paddocks per treatment), and the effects were analyzed by polynomial orthogonal contrasts. Exp. 2: grazing heights were combined with decreasing supplementation levels as grazing heights increased: short height (15 cm) and high supplementation (0.6% of BW of a supplement: 142 g CP/kg and 18.9 MJ GE/kg on DMB) (SHHS); moderate height (25 cm) and moderate supplementation (0.3% of BW of a supplement: 161 g CP/kg and 20.1 MJ GE/kg on DMB) (MHMS) or tall height (35 cm) without supplementation) (THWS). Experimental design was completely randomized (three paddocks per treatment), and treatment means were compared by Tukey test (P < 0.05). In Exp. 1, ADG increased linearly (P = 0.02), and GPH decreased linearly (P = 0.0002) as grazing height increased. Methane emission was not affected (P = 0.64) by grazing height. In Exp. 2, ADG was not influenced (P = 0.14) by treatments. However, GPH was the greatest (P < 0.0001) for the SHHS treatment. In addition, CH 4 emissions were lower (P < 0.0001) in SHHS and MHMS bulls compared to THWS. The SHHS Abbreviations: ADF, acid detergent fiber (expressed inclusive of residual ash); aNDF, neutral detergent fiber (assayed with a heat stable amylase and expressed inclusive of residual ash); ADG, average daily gain; AU, animal unit; BW, body weight; CP, crude protein; DM, dry matter; DMB, dry matter basis; DMI, dry matter intake; GPH, gain per hectare; ha, hectare; GE, gross energy; IVOMD, in vitro organic matter digestibility; IVDMD, in vitro dry matter digestibility; MHMS, moderate height and moderate supplementation; ME, metabolizable energy; OM, organic matter; SHHS, short height and high supplementation; THWS, tall height without supplementation.

RESUMO -Objetivou-se avaliar o valor nutritivo de três espécies forrageiras tropicais: capim-tanzânia (Panicum maximum Jacq.), capim-marandu (Brachiaria brizantha) e capim-tifton 85 (Cynodon spp), em duas épocas do ano (janeiromarço e abril-junho) e em três idades de rebrota (28, 35 e 42 dias), por meio da composição química, do fracionamento de proteínas e carboidratos e da digestibilidade in vitro da matéria seca (DIVMS) e da matéria orgânica (DIVMO). O capim-marandu destacou-se no período de janeiro-março, com menores conteúdos de parede celular e fração B2 dos carboidratos e maiores valores de proteína bruta, fração A + B1, DIVMS e DIVMO, em comparação aos capins tanzânia e tifton 85, independentemente da idade de corte. O aumento da concentração de parede celular em detrimento ao conteúdo celular com o avanço da maturidade das plantas foi evidente no capim-marandu no período de janeiro-março, quando foram observados maior valor da fração B2, maior conteúdo de fibra em detergente neutro (FDN) e menor concentração da fração carboidratos não-fibrosos. No período de abril-junho, a composição em parede celular não apresentou diferenças evidentes com aumento da idade, devido às condições ambientais observadas. O capim-tanzânia apresenta, de modo geral, baixos valores de parede celular e altos valores de carboidratos não-fibrosos, DIVMS e DIVMO nesse período, seguido pelos capins marandu e tifton 85, respectivamente.Palavras-chave: capim-marandu, capim-tanzânia, capim-tifton 85, conteúdo celular, parede celular, valor nutritivo Chemical composition, fractionation of carbohydrates and crude protein and in vitro digestibility on tropical forages in the different cutting ages ABSTRACT -This trial was conducted with the objective of evaluating the nutritive value of three tropical forage species: tanzania grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.), marandu grass (Brachiaria brizantha) and Tifton 85 bermudagrass (Cynodon spp) in two different periods of the year (January-March and April-June) and in three cutting ages (28, 35 and 42 days), based on the chemical composition, protein and carbohydrate fractions, and in vitro digestibility of dry matter (DMD) and organic matter (OMD). Marandu grass, in the period January-March, had the lowest cellular wall contents and B2 fraction of carbohydrates, and higher values of crude protein, A + B1 fraction, DMD and OMD in comparison to tanzania grass and Tifton 85 bermudagrass, regardless of the cutting age. The increase of concentration of the cell wall in detriment to the cell content as plant maturity advanced was evident in marandu grass during January-March when higher values of B2 fraction, higher content of neutral detergent fiber and lower concentrations of non fibrous carbohydrate fractions were observed. In April-June period, the cellular wall contents did not show evident differences as age increased due to environmental conditions. The tanzania grass presents, in general, lower values of the cell wall and higher values of non fibrous carbohydrate, DMD and OMD during this period, f...

Integrated Systems (IS) have been identified as an efficient land-management strategy for restoring degraded areas worldwide, increasing crops and beef yields and providing technical potential for carbon (C) sequestration in soil and trees as an option for offsetting CH 4 and N 2 O emissions from cattle production. The aim of our study is to estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) balance and the C footprint of beef cattle (fattening cycle) in three contrasting production scenarios on the Brachiaria pasture in Brazild1) degraded pasture (DP), 2) managed pasture (MP), and 3) the crop-livestock-forest integrated system (CLFIS)dpresenting new alternatives of land use as a GHG mitigation strategy. Area-scaled total GHG emissions were highest in MP (84,541 kg CO 2 eq ha À1), followed by CLFIS (64,519 kg CO 2 eq ha À1) and DP (8004 kg CO 2 eq ha À1) over a 10-yr period. Our results note that the highest C footprint of beef cattle was in the DP, 18.5 kg CO 2 eq per kg LW (live weight), followed by 12.6 kg CO 2 eq per kg LW in the CLFIS and 9.4 kg CO 2 eq per kg LW in the MP, without taking into account the technical potential for C sequestration in MP (soil C) and CLFIS (soil and Eucalyptus C). Considering the potential for soil C sequestration in the MP and CLFIS, the C footprint of beef cattle could be reduced to 7.6 and À28.1 kg CO 2 eq per kg LW in the MP and CLFIS, respectively. The conversion of the degraded pasture to a well-managed pasture and the introduction of CLFIS can reduce their associated GHG emissions in terms of kg CO 2 eq emitted per kg of cattle LW produced, increasing the production of meat, grains and timber. This reduction is primarily due to pasture improvement and increases in cattle yields and the provision of technical potential for C sinks in soil and biomass to offset cattle-related emissions.

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