Strategies of rotational stocking management on weight gain and productivity of heifers grazing on marandu palisade grass

Pasture management can affect plant growth and interfere with the performance of the animals or the productivity of the production system. Marandu palisade grass swards subjected to year-round grazing by crossbred heifers were evaluated. Three stocking systems were tested: 1) a grazing cycle of 28 days (T28d); 2) when the sward reached a pre-grazing height of 30 cm (T0.3m), and 3) when the sward reached a pre-grazing height of 30 cm under irrigation (T-irrig0.3m). Heifers from treatments T28d and T0.3m were supplemented with dry matter at 1% of BW during winter. Statistical was a completely randomized block split-plot design. The light interception (LI) was higher (P<0.001) for T-irrig0.3m during winter. A lower leaf area index (LAI, P<0.001) was found for T28d, and T0.3m during winter and for T0.3m during autumn. There was an effect of stocking systems (P=0.0055), season (P<0.001) and interaction (P<0.0001) on weight gain (WG), stocking rate and productivity. The lowest WG was obtained in winter for the T-irrig0.3m treatment. The mean WG was 0.45, 0.49 and 0.43 kg/day for T28d, T0.3m and T-irrig0.3m, respectively. Lower productivity (P=0.0155) was observed for T28d when compared to T0.3m and T-irrig0.3m. The productivity rates were 662.2, 741.7 and 758.3 kg WG/ha, per season for T28d, T0.3m and T-irrig0.3m,respectively.