Promoted Lotus tenuis and calf early weaning as a good management practice for breeding herds in marginal soils of the Flooding Pampa (Argentina)

• BAILLERES, MATIAS ^[2] ; CAMPESTRE, MARIA PAULA ^[3] ; ANTONELLI, CRISTIAN ^[3] ; MELANI, GUSTAVO ^[4] ; MENENDEZ, ANA BERNARDINA ^[1] ; RUIZ, OSCAR ADOLFO ^[3]
  1. [1] Universidad de Buenos Aires

     Universidad de Buenos Aires

     Argentina

     
  2. [2] Chacra Experimental Integrada de Chascomús (INTA-MAI)
  3. [3] INTECH (UNSAM-CONICET)
  4. [4] Chacra Experimental Integrada Chascomús (CEICh) (INTA-MAI)

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• Localización: Revista de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, ISSN 0325-8718, ISSN-e 1669-2314, Vol. 46, Nº. 2, 2020 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Alimentos del futuro, crece la demanda de proteínas alternativas a la carne)
• Idioma: inglés
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  • The aim of this study was to evaluate the promotion of L. tenuis in marginal areas as a valuable alternative for early weaning systems in livestock production. Aboveground biomass accumulation was greater for promoted L. tenuis than for semi–natural grassland. In addition to this quantitative advantage, an adequate nutritional quality, with 203.3 g kg–1 crude protein (CP) during the summer season was achieved. Two treatments were tested during three study periods: 1– conventional weaning (CW) with cow–calf pairs grazing on semi–natural grassland and 2– early weaning (EW), with calves weaned at age 4–5 months grazing on promoted L. tenuis paddocks ad libitum and their dams grazing on semi–natural grassland. To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed system, daily weight gain (DWG) and weight gain (WG) of CW and EW calves were determined and compared. EW calves grazing on L. tenuis gained more weight than CW calves during Study Period 1 (P = 0.028), but no difference was observed between treatments during Study Periods 2 and 3 (P ˃ 0.05). Body Condition Score (BCS) for dams in both treatments was evaluated. For all three study periods, BCS improvement was consistently higher in cows from the EW treatment than in Lactating cows (LC) from the CW treatment (P < 0.05). Thus, EW improved cow BCS and did not generate weight reductions in calves thanks to the lotus-based diet. In conclusion, L. tenuis promotion in the summer season provided higher yields in marginal areas than in semi–natural grasslands and acceptable nutritional value for proper feeding of a considerable amount of calves on a small surface area, also enabling better recovery of the dams in terms of body condition.