Performance of rotational grazing of Hernández-Chaves, M.1; van der Hoek, R.2; Abarca-Monge, S.1; Soto-Blanco R.1; Arango, J.3
1Instituto Nacional de Innovación y Transferencia en Tecnología Agropecuaria, INTA, 
Urochloa hybrid cv Cayman in the Costa Rica; 2Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, Costa Rica; 3Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, Colombia.
CONTACT: r.vanderhoek@cgiar.org
Caribbean region of Costa Rica
Introduction Results
» In Costa Rica pasture-based grass is the basis for both » Botanical composition did not differ between the different 
dairy and beef production. Many pastures are dominated seasons.
by Ischaemum ciliare (“Retana”), of poor nutritional » Between years significant differences were found for 
quality and permanently grazed with low stocking rates Cayman, I. ciliare and broadleaf species.
(one animal per ha).
» Cayman yield differed significantly between years. Dry 
» Rotational grazing (like Voisin-style rational grazing) matter production increased during the first three years 
improves forage utilization and promotes nutrient cycling to (Table 1).
maintain primary productivity through short grazing periods 
» Liveweight gain is highest in the dry season.
with high stocking rates.
» The (rainy) season with highest biomass production shows 
» To assess the potential of combining improved grasses with 
a significantly lower liveweight gain in comparison to the 
rotational grazing and compare biomass yield, botanical 
dry season (Table 2).
composition and liveweight gain of cattle for different 
climatic seasons, a trial with Urochloa (also known as Table 1. Pasture botanical composition, yield of Cayman under rational Voisin grazing
Brachiaria) hybrid cv. Cayman was implemented from Botanical composition (%) 2015 2016 2017 2016
U. hybrid cv Caymán 90.1 a 90.8 a 86.9 ab 78.3 b
October 2014 to December 2018.
I. ciliare 4.2 a 5.3 a 7.7 a 15.9 b
Other grasses 0.8 a 0.2 a 0.3 a 0.7 a
Study site and methods Legumes 1.5 a 3.1 a 3.3 a 3.2 a
Other broadleaf species 0.2 a 0.1 a 0.4 a 1.1 b
Cyperaceae 2.7 a 1.2 a 1.4 a 0.84 a
» INTA research station “Los Diamantes”, Guápiles, Limón Yield (Mg DM/ha) (42 days) 3.8 a 5.8 b 6.7 b 6.5 b
Province, Costa Rica. Means with a common letter in the same row are not significantly different (p > 0.05).
» Annual precipitation: 4000–4500 mm.
» Four climatic seasons: dry (15 Feb–14 May), rainy (15 
May–31 Aug), less rainy (1 Sep–15 Oct) and intermediate 
(16 Oct–14 Feb).
» Pasture of 4.35 ha with Urochloa hybrid cv. CIAT BR02/1752 
Cayman® (Semillas Papalotla), divided into 21 paddocks, 
resulting in a weighted average of 2.4 grazing days per 
paddock with 46 days of pasture regrowth.
» Five groups (four Brahman, one Brahman x Simbrah cross) 
of 10–15 animals each were used with an initial average 
weight of 358 kg.
» Estimation of forage availability determination of botanical 
composition. Table 2. Effect of season on yield of U. hybrid cv Cayman and liveweight gain
Season Yield Cayman (Mg DM/ha) Liveweight gain (g/animal/day)
Dry (15 Feb–14 May) 5.9 ab 0.83 a
Rainy (15 May–31 Aug) 6.6 a 0.61 b
Less Rainy (1 Sep–15 Oct) 5.7 ab 0.55 b
Intermediate (16 Oct–14 Feb) 4.2 b 0.39 c
Means with a common letter in the same row are not significantly different (p > 0.05).
Conclusions
» Variations in liveweight gain respond both to the effect 
of climate on the animals and biomass availability.
» The three rainy seasons showed lower liveweight gain 
than the dry season. Potential of improved pastures 
may therefore be underestimated.
» Adapting grazing conditions leading to increased 
animal welfare can increase performance, especially in 
critical weather conditions such as high humidity and 
excess rainfall.
Acknowledgements Poster presented at:
This study was undertaken by INTA Costa Rica and supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock, which is International Grassland
funded by donor contributions to the CGIAR system. We are grateful to Semillas Papalotla for their contribution to the & International Rangeland 
establishment and follow-up of this research. Kenya 2021 Virtual Congress
This poster is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0) 2021-10. Design: A Ramírez & JL Urrea (CIAT).