Rearing beef calves in a cool season pasture under levels of green leaf biomass: economic evaluation and feeding efficiency

摘要

> size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The animal production, its cost and animal feeding efficiency are analyzed in this work. Treatments were levels of green leaf lamina biomass (GLLB), of 350 and 600kg ha-1 of dry matter (DM), in oat and Italian ryegrass pasture. Experimental animals were beef calves, from Charolais breed and its crosses with Nelore breed, with average initial age of nine months and 175kg of live weight. Average results of 103 days of pasture season indicates that animal and forage production were not affected by treatments. Total pasture production costs and the efficiency of transformation of forage in animal liveweight were similar in both GLLB levels. Treatment with 600kg ha-1 of GLLB presented the best economical results, with higher gross income and profit per hectare and lower cost per kg of liveweight produced.