The low marandu palisadegrass at the beginning of stockpiling improves pasture morphology and increases sheep performance in winter

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of four heights (15, 25, 35, and 45cm) of Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu (marandu palisadegrass) at the beginning of the deferment period on the pasture morphology, selectivity, and performance of sheep during the beginning, middle and end of the grazing period in winter. A completely randomized design with three replications was used. Deferred pastures with 35 and 45cm presented larger forage masses than those deferred with 15 and 25cm. Deferred pasture with 15cm presented a higher percentage of live leaf and a lower percentage of dead stem. Dead leaf selection increased during the grazing period. In general, in the higher deferred pastures, the percentages of live leaf were lower and those of dead stalk, higher in the samples of simulated grazing. The sheep performance was higher in the 15cm pasture, intermediate in the 25 and 35cm pastures, and inferior in the 45cm pasture. The maintenance of marandu palisadegrass with 15cm at the beginning of the deferment period results in deferred pasture with better morphology, optimizes the selectivity and the increase the performance of the sheep in the pasture deferred during the winter.