Evaluation of mass and nutritive value the forage and intake by the stable isotope carbon technique of categories of beef cattle supplemented during the dry season in two forage supplies of Brachiaria brizantha

• Grant number: 11/17722-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2011
• End date: April 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Gelci Carlos Lupatini
• Grantee: Gustavo Lineu Sartorello
• Host Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental de Dracena. Dracena , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 08/57411-4 - Environmental stable isotopes in animal science, AP.TEM

Abstract

The experiment will be conducted at APTA Regional Pole-Far West, located in Andradina-SP, in the period from February to December 2011. This work is to characterize the forage mass, chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of organic matter from pasture forage on offers during the dry season and study the relationship of the nutritive value of forage with the intake of animals by the technique of isotope stable categories of beef cattle forage on offers. The design is a randomized block with three replications in a 2 x 2 factorial, with two categories of beef cattle (steers and heifers) and two forage supplies, resulting in four treatments. Two forage supplies will be used, high (10 - 15 kg DM/ 100 kg BW) and middle-restrictive (6 - 8 kg DM/ 100 kg BW). Supplements (concentrates) are based on soybean hulls, citrus pulp and soybean meal (C3). The protein content is consistent with the expected performance, supplemented with 0.8% of body weight. Thirty-six steers will be used Guzera in the growing phase, with initial weight of 330 kg and about 22 months old, an experimental period divided into five periods of 28 days during the dry season. The data will be analyzed statistically using the program R (R Development Core Team, 2006) for the statistical analysis of variance and Tukey test at a significance level of 5%.