The experiment which aimed to evaluate the potential of cattle production on nitrogen-fertilized Brachiaria decumbens pastures was carried out in two years. The total forage mass (TFM), green forage mass (GFM), morphological composition and nutritive value of the potentially consumed forage were determined, as well as the animal performance and the stocking rate (SR). The treatments encompassed four doses of N, being 75, 150, 225 and 300kg/ha.year. A randomized block design with two repetitions was used. The chemical composition of the potentially consumable forage was little altered by the N application. N-fertilization did not influence the weight gain of steers, but increased the SR from 3.6 to 5.3 in the first year and from 3.7 to 5.2 animal units per hectare in the second year, and the production by area of pasture from 404.2 to 737.9kg/ha in the first year and from 619.7 to 1008.4kg/ha in the second year. N-fertilization increases forage mass, stocking rate and animal production by area of pasture on B. decumbens cv. Basilisk pastures managed under continuous stocking with varying stocking rate.
animal performance; Brachiaria decumbens; continuous stocking; hand-plucked
