Once again, Rio Grande do Sul is experiencing difficulties due to the lack of rain. The drought that for the third year in a row harms crops and pastures challenges producers to seek solutions to mitigate this impact. In livestock, the concern comes with the nutrition of the animals, which they lose with the low growth of the pastures.
The technical manager of SIA, Agribusiness Intelligence Service, Armindo Barth Neto, reinforces that in these periods producers may have cards up their sleeves to minimize the impacts of dry weather. “Producers have to be aware that these periods will happen and it is necessary to have alternatives so as not to be exposed to these difficult times”, he observes.
In the case of pastures, the expert points out that this year is going through a La Niña that in early November registered cold temperatures, which harmed the growth of pastures right at the beginning of the growing season. “At the end of November and December we had records of regions with rain, but for the most part the average is very high temperatures with little rain, which evaporates very quickly and creates a deficit, harming the growth of pastures”, he points out.
Barth Neto points out that the first tip is to always try to keep the pastures within the optimum management height. “At SIA we work with rotational grazing and each pasture has its optimal management height. For example, with Sudan grass we work between 25 and 40 centimeters, the same thing for millet and brachiaria. In the native field we work between 8 and 12 centimeters. In these periods of drought it is important never to let this height go down”, he explains.
In addition, SIA’s technical manager also recommends balancing the animal load in each paddock, adjusting it according to the growth of each area. “If we have unused or underutilized areas, place more animals in those areas and rebalance the animal load in these paddocks”, he informs.
Another tip, according to Barth Neto, is about food. In addition to keeping stocks, in many cases it is necessary to introduce some supplementation for the animals so that part of the diet comes from the pasture and another part from the trough, so that the animals eat less of the pastures and manage to keep them indoors. the optimal height.
Another alternative, according to the specialist, is to do hourly grazing, where producers who have areas of annual pastures such as Capim Sudão or Milheto, “make access to this pasture for a determined time, which can be for a shift (in the morning or in the evening). afternoon) or in more critical periods, release the animals for two hours so that they can eat well in these pastures and preserve their height”, he adds.
SIA’s technical manager recalls that it is important to keep the pastures well managed because when it starts to rain, as soon as the first rains fall, with moisture in the soil, these pastures grow back very quickly. “If I have a shaved pasture and when it starts to rain, we don’t have leaves for that pasture to carry out photosynthesis and this pasture, even with rain, takes time to grow and probably in a new lack of rain there is no time for this pasture to recover”, he points out. .
Finally, the expert emphasizes that the producer must now make a category adjustment, understanding which are the most demanding and offering the best pastures.
“For example, we are in the middle of a breeding season and so it is important to prioritize categories with calves at the foot, including primiparous cows, which are first-calf cows, they do have to access the best pastures and in no way cannot be restricted. feed, because otherwise these cows have a very low pregnancy rate due to lack of food. Secondly, prioritize adult cows that have calves at their feet, and finally, in order of priority in reproduction, are heifers and single cows, adult animals that do not have calves at their feet”, adds Barth Neto.
