The objective of this work was to estimate the genetic trends for milk and fat yields of Holstein Dairy Cattle, in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The statistical analyses were made by means of mixed models, using restricted maximum likelihood and animal model. The fixed effects studied were: herd-year-season at calving and linear and quadratic effect of age at calving besides the animal and residual random effects. The genetic trends were obtained by regression of the breeding value on the year […]

This trial was carried out to evaluate the morphological characteristics of three Elephant grass clones (Cameroon, Roxo de Botucatu and Mott) and an Elephant grass with pearl millet hybrid (HV-241) submitted to two humidity regimes (with and without water stress). A randomized block design with split plots and three replicates was used. In the main plot, the effect of the humidity regimes was studied, and in the split plot, the different clones. Plants submitted to water stress showed lower height, […]

Two experiments were carried out to evaluate partial substitution of soybean meal (SM) by texturized soybean protein (TSP) in the pre-starter diet, for piglets weaned at 21 days of age. Four levels (0, 25, 50 and 75% and 0, 20, 40 and 60%, respectively) of replacement of SM by TSP were compared in each experiment. In the first experiment, the replacement of SM by TST showed a feed: gain (FG) linear decrease in the fed period of the diets and […]

This study was carried out in the Federal District of Brazil on two goat farms, using data collected on 772 parturitions. The objective was to evaluate genetic and environmental factors, which influenced the reproduction and milk production of Saanen, Parda Alpine, Toggenburg goats and their crosses, between 1995 and 1997. The data were analysed using SAS (Statistical Analysis System, GLM procedures) and the heritabilities were estimated using MTDFREML with an Individual Animal Model. The studied traits were: age at first […]

Large White (LW), Landrace (LD) and Duroc (DU) swine data were used to estimate the variance components for adjusted weight at 70-days of age (AW70), average daily gain (ADG) and backfat thickness (BT). The (co) variance components were estimated by the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) method. These components were used to calculate the estimates of heritabilities; common litter effect; and genetic, common litter and residual correlations. The heritability values ranged from medium to high, indicating the possibility of genetic gains […]

This work was carried out to evaluate the effect of cottonseed meal, urea or starea supplementation to corn silage and ground corn based diets by In vitro disappearance of dry matter, nitrogen and acid detergent fiber method. The treatment with urea presented better results than the other treatments in all studied characteristics, and the treatments with cottonseed meal or starea presented similar results. The observed In vitro disappearance values were: 70.5, 69.8 and 72.7% for dry matter, 61.6, 63.1 and […]

This experiment was carried out for two years with the objective of evaluating the performance of genetic groups with different genetic potentials for growth, such as Nellore (N), ½ Angus – ½ Nellore (AN) and ½ Simmental – ½ Nellore (SN).This study is part of an ample project, which has as principal goal, to evaluate the efficiency of production of systems composed by animals with different mature sizes (Projeto cruzamento Embrapa 1). Using a bivariate analysis involving the variables average […]

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of the forage to concentrate ratio on the weight gain and feed: gain, and to determine the apparent digestibility of the nutrients of 25 and 20 crossbred steers averaging 310 kg LW, respectively. Five full fed diets based on tanzaniagrass hay and concentrate, with different forage to concentrate ratio (85:15, 70:30, 55:45; 40:60; and 25:75) were used. The regression analysis of the coefficienties of apparent digestible dry matter, digestible organic […]

The effect of different cactus forage cultivars upon the productive performance of 5/8 Holstein/Zebu dairy cows was studied. A latin square design was used in an alternative assay distribution, with three squares and three periods of 28 day each. The treatments were constituted of the cactus cultivars “Redonda”, “Gigante” and “Miúda”. A few variations in the chemical composition were observed among cactus cultivars. No differences were observed as for fresh cactus forage and corn stalks intake, and dry matter intake, […]

The objective of this work was to evaluate the productive efficiency of beef cows. Thirty Angus and 32 Charolais primiparous cows, pregnant at the beginning of the experiment with straightbred or crossbred calves, were evaluated. The cows were submitted to different feeding management during winter and spring: T1 ¾ Native pasture, T2 ¾ Cultivated pasture for 60 days (24 hours/day), from early September to early November, T3 ¾ Cultivated pasture for two hours a day, for 60 days, from early […]