R. Bras. Zootec.29/out/2026;55:e20250038.
Sward structure, herbage mass and beef production of multispecies pastures across integrated and conventional livestock systems in the Brazilian subtropics
Bruna Aline Vacelik
, Camila Crestani
, Ana Paula Corteze
, Marco Antonio Mayer
, Fernanda Gomes Moojen
, Pedro Arthur de Albuquerque Nunes
, André Brugnara Soares
, Leandro Bittencourt de Oliveira
ABSTRACT
This study evaluated animal and plant production in multispecies pastures across integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS) during winter, spring, and summer in Paraná, Brazil. The treatments consisted of Crop-Livestock System (CL), Silvopastoral System (SS), Agroforestry System (AS), and Livestock System (LS). During winter, the unshaded systems (LS and CL) outperformed the systems with the a tree component (SS and AS) presenting a greater forage mass that was 770 kg DM ha−1 higher (P<0.01), and a total forage production that was 1574 kg DM ha−1 higher (P<0.01). Herbage allowance and leaf blade allowance were similar among systems (2.5 and 0.5 kg DM kg LW−1, respectively). Individual animal performance did not differ among systems (0.857 kg animal−1 day−1); however, LS and CL showed higher stocking rates, with 262 kg more live weight (LW) ha−1 during winter and spring (P<0.01 and P<0.01), and greater live weight gain (LWG), which was 1.44 kg LW ha−1 day−1 higher during winter (P<0.01), compared with SS and AS. In subtropical environments, multispecies pastures managed under ICLS provide similar individual beef cattle performance compared with the Livestock System. During the winter, the presence of trees in the Silvopastoral and Agroforestry systems reduces herbage mass production and, consequently, beef production. However, the presence of the tree contributed to maintaining summer forage across seasons, thereby reducing the spring forage gap and sustaining forage availability and animal production.
Palavras-chave: animal production; forage; livestock; silvopastoral system; tropical pasture; winter pasture
