Productivity and nutritive value of mixed pastures with different legume species/Produtividade e valor nutritivo de pastos consorciados com diferentes especies de leguminosas

The objective of this research was to evaluate the productivity and nutritive value of two pasture-based systems (PS) with elephant grass (EG) + ryegrass (RG) + white clover (WC') + spontaneous growing species (SGS), for PS1; and EG + RG + forage peanut (FP) + SGS, for PS2. EG was established in rows spaced by four meters. Ryegrass was seeding in the space between rows during cool-season and development of SGS was permitted in the warm-season. Holstein cows under rotational grazing were used in the evaluation. The initial forage mass (IFM), the botanical composition and the structural components were evaluated. Samples from hand-plucking method were collected to analyze neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), crude protein (CP), in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD). The experimental design used was completely randomized with two treatments, two repetitions in complete split-plot time. The mean values of initial forage mass and stocking rate were similar among PS. Superior results were found for mean of CP in PS2. The use of ryegrass, legumes and spontaneous growing species mixed to EG allow the forage mass to be uniform during the grazing pastures.