Sward height determines pasture production and animal performance in a long-term soybean-beef cattle integrated system

Kunrath, Taise Robinson; Nunes, Pedro Arthur de Albuquerque; Filho, William de Souza; Cadenazzi, Mónica; Bremm, Carolina; Martins, Amanda Posselt; Carvalho, Paulo César de Faccio

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2019.102716

Cited by 40 publications

(45 citation statements)

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“…In this context, grazing intensity is pivotal to define the productivity and the sustainability of ICLS enterprises [9]. It directly influences plant leaf area and light interception by pasture canopy, affecting plant growth and structural characteristics, such as leaf/stem ratio, botanical composition, and tillering dynamics of pasture species [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As plant cell wall content increases, indigestible lignin accumulates in older tissues of the post-flowering stage [15], affecting dry matter (DM) intake and digestibility [16]. Thus, depending on the length of the stocking period (especially under continuous stocking method, when animal grazing is season-long) [9], animals may find different forage compositions over time, possibly resulting in different dung composition, degradation and nutrient release rates over the same stocking period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sheep Dung Composition and Phosphorus and Potassium Release Affected by Grazing Intensity and Pasture Development Stage in an Integrated Crop-Livestock System

et al. 2020

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Animal grazing in integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS) results in continuous nutrient release to forage plants and crops in succession. This study aimed to assess sheep dung composition and decomposition rates under distinct grazing intensities and at different development stages of Italian ryegrass pasture (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), and to evaluate dung phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) release dynamics during two annual ICLS cycles (2015 and 2016) in southern Brazil. Treatments consisted of two grazing intensities (moderate and light) and two pasture development stages (vegetative and post-flowering), arranged in a randomized complete block design with split-split-plots and four replicates. Dry matter (DM) decomposition and P and K release rates were determined using litter bags with sheep dung. Grazing intensity did not affect sheep dung composition. Forage consumed at different development stages altered sheep dung composition, decomposition, and P and K release rates. Dung sampled at pasture vegetative stage showed P and K contents 16% and 7% higher, respectively, than dung from the post-flowering stage. Dung collected at pasture post-flowering stage had 26% more cellulose and 34% more hemicellulose compared to dung from the vegetative stage in 2016. P and K release was greater for dung from pasture vegetative stage, reaching 3.7 and 12.9 kg ha−1 of P and K, respectively. Further evaluations are still needed considering the quantification and release of nutrients in each of the different compartments (pasture, urine, and dung residues) that compose the system.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sheep Dung Composition and Phosphorus and Potassium Release Affected by Grazing Intensity and Pasture Development Stage in an Integrated Crop-Livestock System

et al. 2020

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“…O conjunto de covariáveis a serem utilizadas para compor os modelos foi determinado através da significância de cada covariável obtida a partir do teste de alimentação que permitam maior eficiência de coleta de alimento condicionam maiores ganhos, tanto no ponto de vista produtivo ao animal quanto do sistema como um todo (MEZZALIRA et al, 2017;GONÇALVES et al, 2018;KUNRATH, et al, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsunclassified

Análise da chance de fêmeas bovinas leiteiras destinarem maior tempo a alimentação

et al. 2020

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the likelihood of factors inherent to the animal and food to increase the feeding time of dairy cows during the day. For this purpose, we evaluated all articles published in Brazil from 2000 to 2018, retrieved through SciELO and Google Scholars. The following search term was used: "ingestive behavior of dairy cows". Thirty-four articles were retrieved. Articles reporting the genetic group and/or breed of the animals, cow weight, intake data, and bromatological characteristics of the diet were included in the database. After this screening, nine articles were selected. The variables were analyzed by logistic regression using the LOGISTIC procedure available in SAS. The parameters were evaluated using odds ratios, in which the change in the likelihood of longer feeding time was estimated from the function of unit increases in the regressive variables. The percentage of European breeds and NDF intake increased with increasing body weight and there was an increase in the likelihood of longer feeding time. Dry matter intake has an inverse effect on feeding time; the time cows spend feeding decreases as intake increases. Feeding time is influenced by characteristics related to the animal and diet. Keywordsingestive behavior, intake, logistic regression, NDF, odds ratio.Pal avras -ch ave comportamento ingestivo, consumo, FDN, razão de chances, regressão logística.

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“…The specialized system utilizes the same black oat/Italian ryegrass cover crop mixture as the integrated system but it is left ungrazed, a typical management practice in this region for the purposes of soil protection during the winter and biomass production for no-till operations. Key ongoing experimental measures taken over the 18+ years of the experiment include (1) soil attributes such as bulk density and porosity (Cecagno et al, 2016), carbon and nitrogen fractions and pools (Assmann et al, 2015), pH (Martins et al, 2016b), moisture content (Martins et al, 2016a), and aggregation (Conte et al, 2011); (2) soybean crop attributes such as aboveground biomass accumulation (da Silva et al, 2014), residue (Assmann et al, 2015), leaf water potential (Martins et al, 2016a), and initial population density, yields, and yield components (Kunrath et al, 2015); (3) winter cover crop attributes such as spatial heterogeneity (Nunes et al, 2018), sward height, residue, forage allowance, and total aboveground biomass accumulation (Kunrath et al, 2020); and (4) livestock attributes such as forage intake (de Souza Filho et al, 2019), live weight (LW) gain (Carvalho et al, 2018), and manure distribution (da Silva et al, 2014).…”

Section: Experimental and System Detailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience of an Integrated Crop–Livestock System to Climate Change: A Simulation Analysis of Cover Crop Grazing in Southern Brazil

Peterson

Bell

Carvalho

et al. 2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Integrated crop–livestock systems are a form of sustainable intensification of agriculture that rely on synergistic relationships between plant and animal system elements to bolster critical agroecosystem processes, with potential impacts on resilience to weather anomalies. We simulated productivity dynamics in an integrated cover crop grazing agroecosystem typical of southern Brazil to gain a better understanding of the impacts of livestock integration on system performance, including future productivity and resilience under climate change. Long-term historical simulations in APSIM showed that the integrated system resulted in greater system-wide productivity than a specialized control system in 77% of simulated years. Although soybean yields were typically lower in the integrated system, the additional forage and livestock production increased total system outputs. Under simulated future climate conditions [representative concentration pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) scenario from 2020 to 2060], integrated system productivity exceeded specialized system productivity in 95% of years despite declines in average soybean yield and aboveground cover crop biomass production. While the integrated system provided a productivity buffer against chronic climate stress, its resilience to annual weather anomalies depended on disturbance type and timing. This study demonstrates the utility of process-based models for exploring biophysical proxies for resilience, as well as the potential advantages of livestock integration into cropland as a sustainable intensification strategy.

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Sward height determines pasture production and animal performance in a long-term soybean-beef cattle integrated system

Cited by 40 publications

References 40 publications

Sheep Dung Composition and Phosphorus and Potassium Release Affected by Grazing Intensity and Pasture Development Stage in an Integrated Crop-Livestock System

Sheep Dung Composition and Phosphorus and Potassium Release Affected by Grazing Intensity and Pasture Development Stage in an Integrated Crop-Livestock System

Análise da chance de fêmeas bovinas leiteiras destinarem maior tempo a alimentação

Resilience of an Integrated Crop–Livestock System to Climate Change: A Simulation Analysis of Cover Crop Grazing in Southern Brazil

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