FECAL EXCRETION OF COWS UNDER VOISIN RATIONAL GRAZING, PROTEIN BANK AND HUMID SACCHARINA SUPPLEMENTATION

Faecal excretion and its annual distribution was studied through a com pletely randomized design with Holstein cows, using Voisin's Rational Grazing (VRG) system in guinea grass likoni (Panicum maximum likoni). A protein bank of Leucaena leucocephala (var Peru) and supplementation with humid Saccharina was used in the dry season. The grazing area ha s a total stocking rate df 3.9 animals/ha/year. Results show a notable variation of the organic matter distribution in the paddocks, from 40 to 24 t of FM/ha/year, due to the rotations and the grazing intensity . Faecal excretion occurred in 65, 24 and 11% of the grazing area, the shade building and the milking part our, respectively. There was an i nadequate number of faecal excretions for this type of animal, due to animal consumption factors, together with a marked difference within s easons. The area covered by each dung patch was 0.05, 0.09 and 0.11 m( 2) for those circular, elongated and irregular, while the weight was o f 3.5, 2.6 and 1.8 kg MF/dung patch, respectively It is concluded that under these conditions, the Increase in DM consumption is necessary a s well as the use of organic matter produced outside the system to cor rect the non homogeneous distribution of the faecal excretion in the g uinea grass likoni area under VRG. Also, possibilities for increasing the time of the animal in the grassland must be created.