Productivity of beef cattle grazing Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu with and without nitrogen fertilizer application or mixed pastures with the legume Desmodium ovalifolium

The use of forage legumes to contribute biologically fixed nitrogen (N) to pastures is an alternative to increase beef cattle production in tropical regions. The objective was to compare the impact of the introduction of a legume with that of N fertilizer application on forage and animal production in Brachiaria pastures. This two‐year study assessed three pasture treatments: (1) mixed Marandu palisadegrass (Brachiaria brizantha [syn. Urochloa brizantha] cv. Marandu) and the legume “ovalifolium” (Desmodium ovalifolium) cv. Itabela (Mixed), (2) Marandu palisadegrass pastures with 150 kg N ha−1 (Fertilized), and (3) Marandu palisadegrass without N fertilizer (Unfertilized). Rotational stocking with a variable stocking rate was used with a target herbage allowance of 1.0 kg forage kg body weight−1. The pre‐grazing green herbage mass was similar for Fertilized and Mixed pastures, with 54% and 63% more mass than Unfertilized pasture, respectively (p