Potential of grazing management to improve beef cattle production and mitigate methane emissions in native grasslands of the Pampa biome.

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that improving sward structure through adjustments in forage allowance results in greater forage intake and live weight (LW) gains by beef cattle and lower CH4 emissions per unit LW gain and unit area in a native grassland ecosystem of the Pampa biome. The experiment was carried out during 2012 and 2013 in southern Brazil. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with two replicates. Treatments consisted of five contrasting forage allowances of a native grassland managed under continuous stocking: 4, 8, 8-12, 12, and 16kg of dry matter (DM) 100kg LW-1day-1 (or % LW). The 8-12% LW treatment had a variable forage allowance of 8% LW in spring and 12% LW in summer, autumn, and winter. Forage allowance was controlled by changes in stocking rate (kg LW ha-1). Average daily gain (kg LW day-1) was high for forage allowances of 12 and 16% LW but decreased at 8%, reaching the lowest value at 4% LW treatment (p<0.001). Live weight gain ha-1year-1 was the greatest at forage allowance of 8-12% LW (p<0.001). Forage DM intake peaked at a forage allowance of 12% LW (p=0.005). Individual CH4 emissions remained constant around 150gday-1 for the two highest forage allowances and decreased to 118 and 107gday-1 under forage allowances of 8 and 4% LW, respectively (p=0.002). Emissions per unit LW gain and unit area were driven by animal productivity changes and decreased with increasing forage allowance (p=0.001 and p=0.040, respectively). We propose that the combination of 8% LW forage allowance during spring and 12% LW during the rest of the year should be targeted to best balance animal production and environmental impact in the Pampa biome.