Grass-Fed Beef Production Systems of Argentina's Flooding Pampas

Abstract

The homogeneous topography of Argentina's flooding pampas conceals a substantial amount of spatial and temporal ecosystem heterogeneity. Differences in soils, grassland botanical composition and plant growth regimes that occur down to individual paddocks influence livestock grazing patterns and, predictably, affect the productivity of cattle ranches in the region. Over 40 years of ecological research have greatly improved understanding of the structural and functional heterogeneity of this ecosystem. This better understanding has led to the development of grazing management strategies that help ranchers optimize secondary production by achieving a more efficient use of vegetation. As a result, cattle ranches are rapidly increasing profitability by integrating grass-fed yearling finishing programmes with the traditional cow-calf operations of the region.

Biological Nitrogen Fixation, Carbon assimilation and plant performance of Lotus tenuis, contribute to define a strategic role in the lowlands in the Salado River Basin (Argentina)

“…As shown by Table 1, the grassland was mainly composed by annual and perennial C4 grasses such as Paspalum dilatatum, Sporobolus indicus and Cynodon dactylon. This agrees with previous works carried out in the region, showing that the prevalence of C4 over C3 grasses is mainly due to edaphic conditions and specially, the topsoil pH gradients (Perelman et al 2001(Perelman et al , 2005Cid et al 2011) and its relative abundances can change at a particular site and such changes may have direct consequences for ecosystem processes such as net primary production along with many other ecosystem services (Lattanzi 2010;Kim et al 2015). Despite its contributions, this forage resource (C4 grasses) has poor quality, as shown by its low CP % and DDM % values (Table 3), which does not cover an e cient cattle production in the region, causing either a considerable increase in the need for feed supplements or a decrease in their reproductive performance (Grigera et al 2007).…”

“…The Flooding Pampa (Argentina) constitutes a heterogeneous ecosystem covering approximately 90000 Km 2 area in South America (Imbellone et al 2021). Most of the region is still covered by grasslands that are the main forage resource for cattle breeding (León et al 1984;Cid et al 2011) There are few native legumes in these grasslands because this area is characterized by severe phosphorus de ciency, high alkalinity and salinity levels, together with periodic exposure to waterlogging (Antonelli et al 2019). Lotus tenuis Waldst et Kit (ex Lotus glaber Mill) is an introduced European legume species that has added sustainability improving the quality of lowlands in the Flooding Pampa (Escaray et al 2012).…”

Tipologías Y Caracterización De Sistemas De Cría Bovina De La Pampa Deprimida

“…El campo natural es uno de los principales recursos alimenticios para el ganado en el 79% de la superficie de los establecimientos (Tabla 2), tal como se ha informado para la CS (Cid et al, 2011). Sin embargo, la diversificación de la base forrajera a través de la inclusión de pasturas o cultivos anuales (Tabla 2), resulta una estrategia clave para mantener la carga con un buen rendimiento reproductivo, y poder hacer frente a la variabilidad estacional de la producción y de la calidad de la pradera (Némoz et al, 2013).…”

“…La Pampa Deprimida tiene gran relevancia en la cadena de producción de carne en Argentina; representa aproximadamente 9 millones de hectáreas en la provincia de Buenos Aires (Cid et al, 2011). Los sistemas de cría pastoriles son tradicionales en la región, donde el stock de terneros alcanza los 2,7 millones de cabezas, lo que representa el 48% del stock de la provincia de Buenos Aires (MinAgro, 2015).…”

Modelación Productiva, Económica Y De Gases De Efecto Invernadero De Sistemas Típicos De Cría Bovina De La Pampa Deprimida

“…La incorporación de pasturas asociadas a buenas prácticas de manejo (BPM), que abarca desde la siembra, mantenimiento y la utilización, es una de las propuestas tecnológicas destacadas para la región (Agnusdei y Di Marco, 2015). Las especies forrajeras ampliamente utilizadas son agropiro (Thinopyrum ponticum) y festuca (Festuca arundinacea) (Cid et al, 2008;Cid et al, 2011). La festuca puede lograr tasas de producción razonables de forraje de alta calidad (Lattanzi et al, 2007;Berger et al, 2014).…”