The experiment was conducted to evaluate, the forage losses and litter accumulation, in a pasture of Tanzania grass (Panicum maximun Jacq cv. Tanzania) managed in different sward height levels. The studied levels of sward heights (treatments) were: 29.8, 32.0, 47.1, 51.5, 57.9, 62.7, 72.6 and 80.0 cm, in a completely randomized design and two replications. The litter accumulation rate, litter accumulation and forage losses were similar in all heights. The percentage of senescent forage in the plant canopy was influenced […]

Three methods were compared in the estimate of lignin cell wall contents in different fractions of seven forage species. The methods for assaying lignin were: acid detergent lignin, permanganate lignin and acetyl bromide soluble lignin. The lignin extracted from the forage sample through the acetyl bromide reagent was employed as a reference standard for the spectrophotometric method. There was no agreement among the three methods; in general, the ABSL yielded higher values than the two other analytical procedures while the […]

The water management for growth of Crioula alfalfa cultivar was evaluated in a field study, in order to assess the effects in the plant establishment up to the first cut, at 1977. The study was carried out in 1997. So that, the behaviour at three growth stages (E1 = early vegetative stage, E2 = full vegetative stage, and E3 = reproductive stage until harvest) in the presence of four water levels (A = 100%, B = 80%, C = 45-50%, […]

The objectives of this study were to determine the importance of the effects of age of dam (AoD), sex (S) and age of calf (AC), month of birth (M) and the interaction between age of dam and sex (AoD*S) on visual scores (VS) for weaning conformation (WC), precocity (WP), muscling (WM) and size (WS) of Angus cattle, and to estimate correction factors for these effects. Data from 11,863 calves, controlled by the Beef Cattle Improvement Program (PROMEBO), between 1989 and […]

The objectives of this study were to determine the importance of the effects of age of dam (AoD), sex (S) and age of calf (AC), month of birth (M) and the interaction between age of dam and sex (AoD*S) on birth weight (BW) and 205 day adjusted gain from birth to weaning (AWG) of Angus cattle and to estimate correction factors for these effects. Data from 40,915 calves, of which 12,706 were weighed at birth, controlled by the Beef Cattle […]

Simulated data were used to verify the effect of the connectedness on the average phenotypic value and the additive genetic variance. The simulated genome was formed from a quantitative trait governed by 500 loci. Significance herd effect (9 herds) by 5% probability F test was simulated. Data sets with 0, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 100% of connectedness for heritabilities 0.10, 0.30 and 0.60 and for different progeny sizes (9, 54 and 90 progenies/sire) were simulated. In each generation nine […]

Simulated data were used to verify the effect of the connectedness on the accuracy of progeny and performance tests. The simulated genome was formed from a quantitative trait governed by 500 loci. Significance herd effect (9 herds) by 5% probability F test was simulated. Data sets with 0, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 100% of connectedness for heritabilities 0.10, 0.30 and 0.60 and for different progeny sizes (9, 54 and 90 progenies/sire) were simulated. In each generation nine males were […]

Data of Large White (LW), Landrace (LD) and Duroc (DU) swine were used to estimate the genetic trends for adjusted weight at 70-days old (AW70) in kg, average daily gain (ADG) in g and backfat thickness (BT) in cm. The genetic trends were estimated by regression of the averages of trait genetic values in function of the animal birth year. The estimates of the genetic trend for AW70 (LW = -0.22; LD = -0.24; DU = -0.57) were negative, possibly […]

Forty-two crossbred dairy cows or heifers were randomly allocated to two treatments: T1 (n=22) – control group, without hormonal treatment; T2 (n=20) – treated group with buserelin in the fourth day after embryo transfer, to evaluate the effect of hormonal treatment on the pregnancy rate and plasma concentrations of progesterone in bovine embryo recipients. Blood collection samples for plasma obtainment were realized on day of embryo transfer (day 0) and every other day, in a total of five samples per […]

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of bST in crossbred dairy cows (Bos indicus x Bos taurus) raised in a semi-arid zone, in the Northeast of Brazil. Fifteen cows (second and third lactation; 42-155 days in milk) received five applications of bST, at 14-day intervals. Other 15 cows were used as controls. The animals were fed with diet consisted in elephant grass and concentrate. During the first application of bST, the milk production of the treated cows (12.6 […]