Forage availability and nutritional analysis in a xerophytic forest of Semi-Arid Chaco, Bermejo department, Formosa, Argentina

Abstract

In the western region of Formosa province (Argentina), cattle farming breeding is carried out extensively on native forest. Forage is composed by woody fruits, green foliage and leaf litter. The aim of this work was to evaluate forage offer composed by foliage and leaf litter of woody and herbaceous, in terms of availability and quality. Forage availability estimation for cattle was done both by measuring seasonal and annual dry matter production per hectare for 3 years and by the determination of nutritional parameters. A composite sample was made with all the forage harvested in each season for the period 2017-2018. The highest forage availability was observed in winter (439.44 kg DM/ha) and the lowest in spring (106.48 kg DM/ha). The highest accumulation of forage was obtained in the third period (2017-2018) with 1,411.11 kg DM/ha and the lowest in the first period (2015-2016) with 553.34 kg DM/ha.. Forage quality was classified as medium to low.