The study on forages is necessary, since Brazil has about 215 million cattle,
which are raised mainly grazing Urochloa brizantha is the forage most cultivated in
Brazilian soils, due to its good nutritional value, good productivity and easy
management. Diversification is important in rural properties since producers who think
of productive and sustainable livestock use various forages in order to provide stability,
perenniality and profit to the breeding system. Like this, the objective of this study was
to evaluate the forage production, the structural characteristics and the performance
of steers grazing three types of forages in the form of alternating grazing in the North
of Tocantins. The experimental design was a completely randomized block design,
with three replications, in which the main plot consisted of the treatments (Marandu,
Massai and Xaraés). The evaluation periods (Transition, Drought Start and End of
Drought) Considered measure repeated in time. Thirty-six ringed steers were used,
with 12 animals per treatment, with three replicates of each area and with fixed lotation
rate of 4 animals.ha-1
. The pastures were sampled, in the pre and post-grazing, to
estimate the forage mass and the proportion of the morphological components. The
total dry matter (TDM) of forage in pre-grazing was higher for the cultivar (cv.) Xaraés
in the transitional period and dry end in relation to the Marandu and Massai forages.
The leaf-stem ratio of the Massai grass in the pre-grazing showed values that were
always higher than those of the Xaraés and Marandu grasses. The similarity in the
animal performance of the Marandu treatment to the treatment with cv. Massai showed
that the forage can be used as an alternative in forage diversification within rural
properties during the dry and transition periods of the year in the northern region of
Tocantins.
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