ANIMAL FEED PLANNING: A MANAGEMENT PROPOSAL FOR THE PRODUCTION SYSTEM BASED ON PASTURE
Abstract
The lack of an adequate feed-budget planning for grazing animais has driven Brazilian farmers to an inadequate farm management. One of the main causes of this problem is related to the fact that farmers do not have a clear objective for their farm production, and because there is a lack of knowledge in relation to the planning and adjustment of animal requirement and forage availability during the year. This paper suggests that feed planning should be done in long, medium and short terms. These three kinds of planning generate different decisions in different periods of the year. The long terra plan determines general farm policies; the medium term plan determines specific decisions on how to adjusi the lack and/or excess of forage (or specific requirements of forage for specific period), and the short term plan is associated with decisions taken in specific moments and is mainly related to environmental conditions (weather, soil etc.) in a particular moment. The objective of this paper is to discuss this subject and help farmers to make decisions in relation to feed planning of grazing animais. The milk production from pasture will be highlighted in this review.
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