Challenges of beef cattle production from tropical pastures

Poppi, Dennis P.; Quigley, S. P.; Silva, Tiago Alves Corrêa Carvalho da; McLennan, S. R.

doi:10.1590/rbz4720160419

Cited by 52 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…This claim would argue against the logic of raising heifers on pastures such as Bd (Experiment 3), usually assigned to fattening steers that provide higher short-term financial returns. This view coincides with that expressed by Poppi et al (2018) to the effect that under some conditions, a minimalist approach to feeding grazing cattle may be economically optimal; this argument may explain the popularity of low input tropical pastures among ranchers in some regions.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…On the contrary, strategies that keep females in marginal nutritional conditions are certain to result in low lifetime production as shown above. Depending upon economic conditions and farmers´ preferences (Poppi et al 2018), supplementation of cattle grazing these tropical pastures would be expected to increase their performance. Several studies conducted in the Brazilian Cerrado have unequivocally shown a positive response of fattening cattle grazing Brachiaria-based pastures to energy and protein supplements (da Silva-Marques et al 2018a, 2018bNeves et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…H1h, M1h; L1h) counterparts grazed a contemporary, well managed, Bd pasture stocked at 1.5 animals/ha and managed as described below, in order to achieve contrasting LWGs during that phase. The design therefore mimics studies on compensatory growth whose importance for tropical cattle was recently reviewed by Poppi et al (2018). The first period corresponds to the application of the initial low (L), medium (M) and high (H) rates of growth to maiden heifers on Brachiaria humidicola.…”

Section: Experiments 2 Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, knowledge of the mechanisms that promote heifers' body growth and link it to lifetime breeding efficiency in extensive tropical cow-calf systems is limited (Wathes et al 2014), but it is essential to develop sustainable production systems. Poppi et al (2018) recently remarked the continuing importance of research on the effects of growth rate on the performance of cattle grazing tropical pastures, and noted the financial risks involved in different growth paths.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long term beef production in extensive cow-calf systems in the tropical savannas of eastern Colombia

Vera-Infanzón

Ramírez-Restrepo

2020

Rev. Med. Vet. Zoot.

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Replacement beef heifers in extensive systems of the neotropical savannas of Colombia are low priority animals and are assigned to native savannas and low-quality pastures, with scarcely researched long-term consequences. The study pooled data from four contemporary grazing experiments to determine the effects of low growth rates of heifers on their lifetime production of liveweight gains (LWGs) per year and per hectare (ha) subject to different management strategies. Three growth rates were imposed on grazing heifers during the growing phase (i.e. nine-36 months of age) on Brachiaria humidicola pastures. Upon the end of the previous phase, animals were allocated to a B. humidicola paddock with a reduced stocking rate or introduced to a B. decumbens sward to allow compensatory LWGs during the breeding phase (i.e. cows plus weaned calves). Severely limited heifers allowed to make compensatory growth did not reach the outputs of better fed animals. Regardless of the strategy followed, high producing years tended to be followed by lower production in the following year. Comparison with reasonably fed breeding cows full-time on well-managed B. decumbens showed important and significant differences in favor of the more intensive system over the lifetime of the animals. Over the nine-year period, the systems’ beef output (i.e. weaned calves plus cows’ LWGs) ranged between 86 and 206 kg/ha/year and demonstrated that a wide array of low input management alternatives is feasible. Beef output increases if the LW of cull cows is considered, particularly if they are allowed a short period of fattening during the rainy reason on a low input pasture.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experiments 2 Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long term beef production in extensive cow-calf systems in the tropical savannas of eastern Colombia

Vera-Infanzón

Ramírez-Restrepo

2020

Rev. Med. Vet. Zoot.

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“…Under this production system, animals are usually subject to periods of food scarcity due to seasonal patterns of rainfall and, consequently, seasonal variation of pasture quality and availability. Depending on the severity of the dry season, the animals can be subject to seasonal weight loss if no supplementation is provided, this being a major constraint to beef cattle production in the tropics [4, 5]. However, supplementation is costly, and a more effective strategy would be to select cattle that are less sensitive to environmental variation in unfavorable environments and more adapted to harsh conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unraveling genetic sensitivity of beef cattle to environmental variation under tropical conditions

et al. 2019

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Background Selection of cattle that are less sensitive to environmental variation in unfavorable environments and more adapted to harsh conditions is of primary importance for tropical beef cattle production systems. Understanding the genetic background of sensitivity to environmental variation is necessary for developing strategies and tools to increase efficiency and sustainability of beef production. We evaluated the degree of sensitivity of beef cattle performance to environmental variation, at the animal and molecular marker levels (412 K single nucleotide polymorphisms), by fitting and comparing the results of different reaction norm models (RNM), using a comprehensive dataset of Nellore cattle raised under diverse environmental conditions. Results Heteroscedastic RNM (with different residual variances for environmental level) provided better fit than homoscedastic RNM. In addition, spline and quadratic RNM outperformed linear RNM, which suggests the existence of a nonlinear genetic component affecting the performance of Nellore cattle. This nonlinearity indicates that within-animal sensitivity depends on the environmental gradient (EG) level and that animals may present different patterns of sensitivity according to the range of environmental variations. The spline RNM showed that sensitivity to environmental variation from harsh to average EG is lowly correlated with sensitivity from average to good EG, at both the animal and molecular marker levels. Although the genomic regions that affect sensitivity in harsher environments were not the same as those associated with less challenging environments, the candidate genes within those regions participate in common biological processes such as those related to inflammatory and immune response. Some plausible candidate genes were identified. Conclusions Sensitivity of tropical beef cattle to environmental variation is not continuous along the environmental gradient, which implies that animals that are less sensitive to harsher conditions are not necessarily less responsive to variations in better environmental conditions, and vice versa. The same pattern was observed at the molecular marker level, i.e. genomic regions and, consequently, candidate genes associated with sensitivity to harsh conditions were not the same as those associated with sensitivity to less challenging conditions. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12711-019-0470-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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