Grass management at each time of the year

The basic feed of cattle is mainly made up of grass species, the management of these plant species differs at each period of the year, to have availability of forage throughout the year conservation strategies are applied, such as silage and the quality in some cases tends to be low when it is not managed properly. Feeding is an important indicator when it is desired to have good yields in the livestock business, therefore, maintaining the availability of fodder in agroecosystems throughout the year is part of the work that the producer must.

In the geographical area where we are located, the Southern area of Lake Maracaibo Venezuela, there is an irregular distribution of precipitation, which constitutes a climatic element of importance that is characterized by being bimodal presenting the first increase in precipitation between the months of April and July which can also vary in those months and the other increase occurs between the months of August and September until mid-November and December. We particularly call them rainy and not very rainy periods, because despite there being dry periods there are always sporadic rains.

The rain element and its periodicity during the year has been studied by various researchers to determine the management of grasslands at the aforementioned times of the year. For example, in periods where rains are more recurrent there is a surplus of plant biomass, which is used through conservation methods to be supplied to animals in times of prolonged drought, which is a way to maintain an adequate animal load throughout the year.

In this same vein, Pinto (1992), mentioned that, during the first season of the year, which is drier is characterized by a low quantity and quality of pastures, which can get worse if it intensifies, it is necessary to implement appropriate agronomic and zootechnical management throughout the year to be able to face these difficult situations of scarcity. When it is not possible to manage the pasture well, expenses increase at these times because usually concentrated feed supplementation is used to cover the animals' requirements.

A management that is considered appropriate in times of low rainfall is to reduce grazing pressures by adjusting load and increasing rest days, ideally with the shortage of water the plant after the cutting made by the animal can recover the reserves present in the roots and have a vigorous shoot, this way the sustainability of the plant is guaranteed, although at some point the quality of it generated by water stress is compromised. It is important to come implementing the agronomic and zootechnical tasks since the rainy season, let's not think that the problem of yield and quality of the grass in the dry period will be solved.

It is also important to mention that in the rainy seasons the plants accelerate their growth since the water stress is significantly decreased, at this time the rest days could be decreased a little, making a diagnosis in the field to prevent the plant from excessively increasing its fiber levels, in this way we could increase the animal load a little and apply agronomic tasks of the crop necessary for the recovery of the soil and therefore of the grass plant, since, it is necessary to remember that it is the most important crop in livestock farming that can cover part of the nutritional requirement of animals at low costs.

Dear readers, each producer can come to establish different strategies at different times of the year to maintain sufficient forage resource on the surface, the important thing is to consider the moments of recovery of the plant so that it can overcome the critical times without being overgrazed and the forage availability on the surfaces of livestock ecosystems is compromised.