Animal production on cultivated pasturelands in temperate climate regions of Latin America

Abstract

This paper discusses some aspects of animal production systems based on pastures in temperate regions of Latin America, with a focus on southern Brazil. Information is presented on grazing management strategies to maximize forage production and some animal performance results obtained with grazing summer and cool-season forage species. Temperate regions of Latin America present contrasting temperature patterns, but for the most part rainfall throughout the year is well distributed. These conditions allow forage production, and thus animal production, based on pastures almost all year round, since tropical forages can be used during the warmer months and cool-season forage species during the cooler months. However, good forage budget planning is necessary to meet the nutritional requirements of the livestock and avoid, or at least reduce, periods of forage deficit and the need for supplementation. Planning should also take into account stocking rate adjustments and the proportion of animal categories stocked over the four seasons of the year since tropical species give greater forage biomass production while temperate species provide forage of better nutritional value. Thus, while the temperate regions of Latin America present good conditions for pasture-based livestock systems, good planning at the whole farm level is essential for adjusting forage production to livestock requirements.