Elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum, Schum. cv. Napier) and mombaçagrass (Panicum maximum, cv. Mombaça) pastures were evaluated under rotational grazing with samplings taken by esophageal extrusa. The energy value of grasses and the dry matter intake of heifers as a function of the weight gains were estimated. Samples relating to the third, second, and first days of the occupation period were used to determine the dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) to calculate the total digestible nutrients (TDN). The TDN values predicted by the American System (NRC) and those estimated from heifers weight gains were compared with adjustment of simple linear regression. The average weight gains were 0.649 and 0.590kg, respectively, for elephantgrass and mombaçagrass, that resulted in the rejection of nullity hypothesis, which means, it resulted in absence of similarity among values predicted by the system and those observed. The incorporation of the empirical factor (0.85) replacing the value (0.667) proposed by NRC resulted in better estimation.
pasture; total digestible nutrients; American System; weight gains
