Efficient Use of Tropical Forages in Cattle Feeding

Abstract

This paper aims to present a number of tools that are currently available and which are essential to make cattle farming in Colombia a more competitive and sustainable agribusiness. Such tools include the animal unit, a concept that, based on the specific calculations of each country, seeks equivalence between species and interspecies, physiological states, among other features, through multiple conversion factors. Forage planning, for its part, is a dynamic tool that makes it possible to adjust stocking rates according to the forage supply and optimizes it for each livestock enterprise. Based on them, it is possible to establish the right amount of occupation days and rest periods for the property’s areas (grazing, protein banks and grazing pastures). Another factor to be considered is water management, as this resource is the main limiting factor in any farming system and, therefore, it should be handled more efficiently. All of this will make it possible to establish efficient plans for cattle feed in order to produce quality meat and milk and increase productivity and, thus, continue to supply an ever-growing human population and boosting the economy of the livestock sector in Colombia.