Factors influencing the variability in performance of cattle grazing tropical pasture

E. Charmley; G. J. Bishop-Hurley; C. S. McSweeney; R. Takeuchi; G. Martinez-Fernandez; S. Denman

doi:10.1071/AN24203

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 64(17)

Factors influencing the variability in performance of cattle grazing tropical pasture

E. Charmley

^A ^* , G. J. Bishop-Hurley ^B , C. S. McSweeney ^B , R. Takeuchi ^B , G. Martinez-Fernandez ^B and S. Denman ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Private Mail Bag PO Aitkenvale, Townsville, Qld 4814, Australia.

^B CSIRO Agriculture and Food, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: ed.charmley@csiro.au

Handling Editor: Luis Felipe Silva

Animal Production Science 64, AN24203 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN24203

Submitted: 21 June 2024 Accepted: 23 October 2024 Published: 12 November 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Whereas it is known that there is variation in liveweight gain (described as performance in this paper) within a group of grazing cattle, the causes of this variation are not well understood.

Aim

A 2-year grazing study in northern Queensland was conducted to understand the relative influence of diet selection, grazing behaviour and rumen fermentation on variation in performance of growing cattle.

Methods

Eighty-nine Bos taurus × B. indicus (~6 months old) growing steers were grazed as a group on mixed tropical pasture for 23 months. Pasture was characterised for biomass, species and nutrient composition. Cattle were ranked according to overall liveweight (LW) gain and the top (high performance, HP) 20 and bottom (low performance, LP) 20 head were compared for diet composition, rumen fermentation and grazing behaviours.

Results

Pasture biomass, and nutritive value of pasture and diet varied between seasons and years of study. The HP cattle achieved overall LW gains 20% greater than those of the LP cattle mainly due to higher rates of gain in the wet season. However, the nutritive value and rumen fermentation characteristics were similar for both LP and HP cattle, although there was evidence that crude protein and digestibility were modestly higher in diets of HP cattle, especially in the first wet season. Activity, measured as distance travelled, declined as pasture biomass declined, and cattle appeared to favour pasture with higher legume content.

Conclusion

It is concluded that divergence in performance of cattle on tropical pasture could not be fully explained by measurements taken in this study. Diet selection for plant components with improved nutritive value probably played a small role. Differences in initial LW between the LP and HP groups may have been a contributory factor.

Implications

Despite comprehensive measurements of factors that influence efficiency and performance on pasture, we were unable to identify definitive causes. Genetic variation in feed intake or efficiency of digestion needs to be investigated.

Keywords: animal performance, beef cattle, feed efficiency, grazing behaviour, intake, nutritive value, pasture, tropical.

References

Arablouei R, Wang L, Currie L, Yates J, Alvarenga FAP, Bishop-Hurley GJ (2023) Animal behavior classification via deep learning on embedded systems. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 207, 107707.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Archimède H, Eugène M, Marie Magdeleine C, Boval M, Martin C, Morgavi DP, Lecomte P, Doreau M (2011) Comparison of methane production between C3 and C4 grasses and legumes. Animal Feed Science and Technology 166–167, 59-64.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Arthur PF, Archer JA, Herd RM (2004) Feed intake and efficiency in beef cattle: overview of recent Australian research and challenges for the future. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 44, 361-369.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bell A, Sangster N (2023) Research, development and adoption for the north Australian beef cattle breeding industry: an analysis of needs and gaps. Animal Production Science 63, 1-40.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Benvenutti MA, Pavetti DR, Poppi DP, Gordon IJ, Cangiano CA (2015) Defoliation patterns and their implications for the management of vegetative tropical pastures to control intake and diet quality of cattle. Grass and Forage Science 71, 424-436.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Berge P (1991) Long-term effects of feeding during calfhood on subsequent performance in beef cattle (a review). Livestock Production Science 28, 179-201.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bortolussi G, McIvor JG, Hodgkinson JJ, Coffey SG, Holmes CR (2005) The northern Australian beef industry, a snapshot. 3. Annual liveweight gains from pasture based systems. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 1093-1108.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bowen MK, Poppi DP, McLennan SR (2017) Efficiency of rumen microbial protein synthesis in cattle grazing tropical pastures as estimated by a novel technique. Animal Production Science 57, 1702-1712.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Campbell DLM, Marini D, Lea JM, Keshavarzi H, Dyall TR, Lee C (2021) The application of virtual fencing technology effectively herds cattle and sheep. Animal Production Science 61, 1393-1402.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Cantalapiedra-Hijar G, Abo-Ismail M, Carstens GE, Guan LL, Hegarty R, Kenny DA, McGee M, Plastow G, Relling A, Ortigues-Marty I (2018) Review: biological efficiency determinants of between-animal variation in feed efficiency of growing beef cattle. Animal 12(S2), 321-335.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Chaney AL, Marbach EP (1962) Modified reagents for determination of urea and ammonia. Clinical Chemistry 8, 130-132.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Chacon E, Stobbs TH (1976) Influence of progressive defoliation of a grass sward on the eating behaviour of cattle. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 27, 709-727.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Charmley E, Thomas D, Bishop-Hurley GJ (2023) Revisiting tropical pasture intake: what has changed in 50 years? Animal Production Science 63, 1851-1865.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Chilcott C, Ash A, Lenhert S, Stokes C, Charmley E, Collins K, Pavey C, Macintosh A, Simpson A, Berglas R, White E, Amity M (2020) Northern Australia beef Situation analysis. A report to the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia, CSIRO, Australia.

Coates DB (1996) Diet selection by cattle grazing Stylosanthes-grass pastures in the seasonally dry tropics: effect of year, season, stylo species and botanical composition. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 36, 781-789.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Coates DB, Dixon RM (2011) Developing robust faecal near infrared spectroscopy calibrations to predict diet dry matter digestibility in cattle consuming tropical forages. Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy 19, 507-519.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Coleman SW (2005) Predicting forage intake by grazing ruminants. In ‘Florida Ruminant Nutrition Symposium’, pp. 72–90.

Cooksley DG (2003) Managing native pastures and stylos. Project NAP3.221 final report. Meat and Livestock Australia, Sydney, NSW, Austalia.

Da Silva SC, Gimenes FMA, Sarmento DOL, Sbrissia AF, Oliveira DE, Hernandez-Garay A, Pires AV (2013) Grazing behaviour, herbage intake and animal performance of beef cattle heifers on marandu palisade grass subjected to intensities of continuous stocking management. Journal of Agricultural Science 151, 727-739.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Dixon RM, Coates DB (2008) Diet quality and liveweight gain of steers grazing Leucaena-grass pasture estimated with faecal near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (F.NIRS). Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48, 835-842.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Forbes JM (2003) The multifactorial nature of food intake control. Journal of Animal Science 81, E139-E144.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Forbes TDA, Coleman SW (1993) Forage intake and ingestive behavior of cattle grazing old world bluestems. Agronomy Journal 85, 808-816.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Gagen EJ, Wang J, Padmanabha J, Liu J, de Carvalho IPC, Liu J, Webb RI, Al Jassam R, Morrison M, Denman SE, McSweeney CS (2014) Investigation of a new acetogen isolated from an enrichment of the tammar wallaby forestomach. BMC Microbiology 7, 1122.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hendrickson RE, Poppi DP, Minson DJ (1981) The voluntary intake, digestibility and retention time by cattle and sheep of stem and leaf fractions of a tropical legume (Lablab purpureus). Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 32, 389-398.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hobbs NT, Bowden DC (1982) Confidence intervals on food preference indices. The Journal of Wildlife Management 46, 505-507.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hunt LP, Petty S, Cowley R, Fisher A, Ash AJ, MacDonald N (2007) Factors affecting the management of cattle grazing distribution in northern Australia: preliminary observations on the effect of paddock size and water points. The Rangeland Journal 29, 169-179.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hunter RA, Siebert BD (1985) Utilization of low-quality roughage by Bos taurus and Bos indicus cattle 2. The effect of rumen-degradable nitrogen and sulphur on voluntary food intake and rumen characteristics. British Journal of Nutrition 53, 649-656.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Kennedy PM, Charmley E (2012) Methane yields from Brahman cattle fed tropical grasses and legumes. Animal Production Science 52, 225-239.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Kenny DA, Fitzsimmons C, Waters SM, McGee M (2018) Invited review: Improving feed efficiency of beef cattle – the current state of the art and future challenges. Animal 12, 1815-1826.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Lawrence P, Kenny DA, Earley B, McGee M (2013) Intake of conserved and grazed grass and performance traits in beef suckler cows differing in phenotypic residual feed intake. Livestock Science 152, 154-166.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Martinez-Fernandez G, Jiao J, Padnamabha J, Denman SE, McSweeney CS (2020) Seasonal and nutrient supplement response in rumen microbiota structure and metabolites of tropical rangeland cattle. Microorganisms 8, 1550.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

McCosker KD, Perkins NR, Fordyce G, O’Rourke PK, McGowan MR (2023) Reproductive performance of northern Australia beef herds. 5. Factors influencing risk of non-pregnancy. Animal Production Science 63, 350-364.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

McGavin SL, Bishop-Hurley GJ, Charmley E, Greenwood PL, Callaghan MJ (2018) Effect of GPS sample interval and paddock size on estimates of distance travelled by grazing cattle in rangeland, Australia. The Rangeland Journal 40, 55-64.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

McLennan S, McLean I, Paton C (2020) Re-defining the animal unit equivalence (AE) for grazing ruminants and its application for determining forage intake, with particular relevance to the northern Australian grazing industries. Project B.GBP.0036 Final Report. Meat and Livestock Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Moritz M, Galehouse Z, Hao Q, Garabed RB (2012) Can one animal represent an entire herd? Modelling pastoral mobility using GPS/GIS technology. Human Ecology 40, 623-630.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Mwangi FW, Gardiner CP, Walker G, Hall TJ, Malau-Aduli BS, Kinobe RT, Malau-Aduli AEO (2021) Growth performance and plasma metabolites of grazing beef cattle backgrounded on buffel or buffel – Desmanthus mixed pastures. Animals 11, 2355.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Owen-Smith N, Fryxell JM, Merrill EH (2010) Foraging theory upscaled: the behavioural ecology of herbivore movement. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365, 2267-2278.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Panjaitan T, Quigley SP, McLennan SR, Swain T, Poppi DP (2010) Intake, retention time in the rumen and microbial protein production of Bos indicus steers consuming grasses varying in crude protein content. Animal Production Science 50, 444-448.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Perry LA, Al Jassim R, Gaughan JB, Tomkins NW (2017) Effect of feeding forage characteristic of wet-or dry-season tropical C4 grass in northern Australia, on methane production, intake and rumen outflow rates in Bos indicus steers. Animal Production Science 57, 2033-2041.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Petty SR, Poppi DP (2012) The liveweight gain response of heifers to supplements of molasses or maize while grazing irrigated Leucaena leucocephala/Digitaria eriantha pastures in north-west Australia. Animal Production Science 52, 619-623.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Playne HJ, Kennedy PM (1976) Ruminal volatile fatty acids and ammonia in cattle grazing dry tropical pastures. Journal of Agricultural Science 86, 367-372.
| Google Scholar |

Poppi DP, McLennan SR (1995) Protein and energy utilization by ruminants at pasture. Journal of Animal Science 73, 278-290.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Rodríguez-Prado M, Ferret A, Zwieten J, Gonzalez L, Bravo D, Calsamiglia S (2012) Effects of dietary addition of capsicum extract on intake, water consumption, and rumen fermentation of fattening heifers fed a high-concentrate diet. Journal of Animal Science 90, 1879-1884.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Rutter SM (2006) Diet preference for grass and legumes in free-ranging domestic sheep and cattle: current theory and future application. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 97, 17-35.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Satter LD, Slyter LL (1974) Effect of ammonia concentration on ruminal microbial protein production in vitro. British Journal of Nutrition 32, 199-208.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Silva LFP, Hegarty RS, Meale SJ, Costa DAF, Fletcher MT (2022) Using the natural abundance of nitrogen isotopes to identify cattle with greater efficiency in protein-limiting diets. Animal 16, 100551.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Tothill JC, Gillies C (1992) The pasture lands of Northern Australia: their condition, productivity and sustainability. Tropical Grassland Society of Australia, St Lucia, Queensland.

Tothill JC, Hargreaves JNG, Jones RM, McDonald CK (1992) ‘BOTANAL – a comprehensive sampling and computing procedure for estimating pasture yield and composition 1. Field sampling.’ (CSIRO: Brisbane)

Tomkins NW, O’Reagain PJ (2007) Global positioning systems indicate landscape preference s of cattle in the subtropical savannas. The Rangeland Journal 29, 217-222.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Tomkins NW, O’Reagain PJ, Swain D, Bishop-Hurley G, Charmley E (2009) Determining the effect of stocking rate on the spatial distribution of cattle for the subtropical savannas. The Rangeland Journal 31, 267-276.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |