Níveis de suplementação energética na terminação de novilhos em pastagem de estrela africana

Abstract

Animal supplementation has become one of the most important nutritional managements in grazing cattle production, helping to balance the diet and favoring good animal performance. The aim of this project was to assess whether the performance of finishing steers is altered when they are subjected to different levels of energy supplementation while grazing African star grass. The experiment was carried out at the Beef Cattle Teaching and Research Unit (UNEPE) of the Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR) - Dois Vizinhos Campus, between October 2022 and March 2023. 27 crossbred steers (British x Zebu) were used, with an average starting weight of 375 kg and 20 months of age. The animals were grazed on Estrela Africana pasture and were given energy supplements at levels of 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0% of live weight. The study evaluated pasture morphological characteristics such as forage mass, accumulation rate, forage supply and animal load. Initial weight (Pi), final weight (Pf), average daily gain (GMD), initial and final fat thickness (EGi and EGf), live weight gain per hectare (GPV/ha) and live weight gain per hectare per day (GPV/ha/day) were also evaluated. The treatment receiving 1% energy supplementation was superior in terms of weight gain per area and per day, and was the most productive treatment in terms of efficiency per hectare, while there were no statistical differences in the other variables. It can therefore be concluded that increasing levels of supplementation can increase gain per area, provided they are well managed.