Comparison of dry season urea supplements containing salt, sulfur or molasses for steers grazing native pasture in the dry tropics of northern Queensland

1981 ◽  
Vol 21 (112) ◽  
pp. 457 ◽  
Author(s):  
SR McLennan ◽  
PJ Dunster ◽  
PK O'Rourke ◽  
GM Murphy

The effects of feeding dry season supplements of salt and urea (NaU), salt, urea and sulfur (NaUS) and molasses and urea (MU) on the liveweight of steers grazing native pasture in northern Queensland were studied over four years. Liveweight during the feeding period was improved (P < 0.05) by each supplement in three years out of four, with a mean level of response of 49 g/d. The supplements gave similar results in two years while in one year NaU and MU were better than NaUS (P < 0.05) and in another NaUS was better than NaU (P < 0.05). Compensatory growth by unsupplemented animals after the feeding period eroded liveweight responses to supplements in most cases. Blood sulfate level was not affected by treatment, nor was it related to liveweight in either the feeding or post-feeding periods. Mean levels for unsupplemented animals were 15.8 and 21.2 �g/ml for the feeding and post-feeding periods, respectively. Salivary Na:K ratios exceeded 18:1 throughout the year for unsupplemented and NaUS groups, indicating sodium sufficiency.

1982 ◽  
Vol 22 (117) ◽  
pp. 252 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Winks ◽  
PK O'Rourke ◽  
SR McLennan

Steers grazing native pasture were supplemented with 0, 0.8 or 2.4 g of sulfur/head.d in addition to a molasses (230 or 115 g/head.d) and urea (60 g/head.d) supplement over four dry seasons. The unsupplemented animals lost most or gained least weight during the feeding period in all four years but the difference was significant (P< 0.05) in only two years. Adding sulfur to the molasses and urea tended to give the best results but the effect was not significant (P> 0.05) over the results achieved with feeding only molasses and urea. There was a tendency for liveweight performance to be better with the higher level of molasses, but again differences were not significant. Blood sulfate-sulfur levels during the feeding period increased with the level of sulfur fed but levels were not significantly correlated with liveweight change. Compensatory growth by unsupplemented groups after the feeding period eliminated liveweight advantages of supplemented groups. The results suggest that the level of molasses in a molasses and urea supplement for yearling cattle grazing native pastures on solodic soils during the dry season in northern Queensland can be reduced to 115 g/head.d without adversely affecting liveweight. These results may not apply on sulfur deficient soils and in dry years.


1983 ◽  
Vol 23 (120) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
RG Holroyd ◽  
PK O'Rourke ◽  
MR Clarke ◽  
ID Loxton

The reproductive performance of cows and growth rate of their calves to weaning was examined over a four-year period (1973-1977). Cows grazed either native pasture stocked at 1cowl4 ha, or native pasture oversown with Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis) and fertilized with superphosphate stocked at 1 cow/2 ha. Animals were supplemented on each pasture type with urea-molasses in the dry season, phosphorus all year round plus urea-molasses in the dry season, or were unsupplemented. Mating was for three months from mid-January. Calving began towards the end of the dry season and cows lactated through the following wet season. Cows grazing fertilized legume pasture had significantly higher conception rates and earlier calving dates in one year only. In all years, foetal and calf losses between pregnancy diagnosis and weaning were lower on native pasture than on fertilized legume pasture. Cows grazing fertilized legume pasture were generally in better body condition and heavier throughout and their calves grew faster to weaning than on native pasture. Fertilized legume pasture produced a 2.4 fold increase over that of native pasture in cow and calf liveweight per unit area (382.7 kg/ha vs 159.8 kg/ha) over the four years. Supplementation did not influence liveweight or reproductive performance of cows or calf growth rate except during the final dry season when non-supplemented cows lost significantly more weight than those supplemented with phosphorus and urea.


2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 529 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Dixon ◽  
C. Playford ◽  
D. B. Coates

In the seasonally dry tropics the effects of three times of weaning and three nutritional regimes on the changes in liveweight (LW) and body condition score (BCS) of grazing Bos indicus × Bos taurus breeder cows (n = 210) and their calves were examined through an annual cycle, commencing in the early dry season in April 1998. Most of the cows (n = 180) were lactating initially, and were weaned in April (W1), July (W2) or September (W3) to represent the expected early, mid and late dry season. In addition, cows that had not lactated for 11 months before the experiment commenced (NOCALF treatment; n = 30) were examined. The seasonal break occurred in late August, 3.5 months earlier than average for the site. The nutritional regimes consisted of a native pasture (LOW), another native pasture augmented with Stylosanthes spp. legumes (MEDIUM), or this latter pasture supplemented during the dry season with molasses-urea (HIGH). These nutritional regimes were imposed from the commencement of the experiment in April 1998 until February 1999, except that for the HIGH treatment the supplement was fed only during the dry season. Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy of faeces (F.NIRS) was used to estimate the contents of non-grass, crude protein (CP) and DM digestibility of the diet selected, and also DM intake and metabolisable energy (ME) intake. Diet quality was in accord with the expected seasonal cycle, and was consistently lower (P < 0.05) for the LOW than for the MEDIUM treatment. Concentrations of CP and CP/MJ ME in the diet, and of N in faeces, indicated that the cows grazing the LOW treatment were deficient in rumen degradable protein during the dry season. There was no interaction (P > 0.05) between the nutritional regime and the time of weaning on changes in conceptus-free liveweight (CF.LW) or BCS during the dry season. Weaning increased breeder CF.LW, relative to lactating breeders, by 0.42 kg/day in the early dry season (April–July; the difference between the W1 and W2 treatments), and 0.18 kg/day in the usual mid dry season (July–September; the difference between the W2 and W3 treatments). The NOCALF treatment cows were initially 79 kg heavier than lactating cows, and lost more LW during the dry season. Microbial CP synthesis was 21 and 29% greater (P < 0.05) in lactating than in non-lactating cows in the late dry season and shortly after the seasonal break (August and September), respectively. Calf growth was not affected (P > 0.05) by nutritional regime during the early dry season (April–July), but was lower for the LOW nutritional regime during the usual mid dry season (July–September); this indicated that the LOW nutritional regime cows mobilised sufficient additional body reserves to maintain milk production during the former, but not the latter, interval. All cows that were lactating at the commencement of the experiment gained CF.LW rapidly from September 1998 following the seasonal break. In conclusion, although nutrition affected LW change of both cows and calves, there was a much larger effect of weaning than of the nutrition treatments examined on conservation of body reserves in breeder cows during the dry season. The observation that the effects of weaning on conservation of cow body reserves were similar across a wide range of nutrition is important for management to achieve appropriate targets for breeder cow body reserves.


1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (85) ◽  
pp. 197 ◽  
Author(s):  
RG Holroyd ◽  
PJ Allan ◽  
PK O'Rourke

A study was made over a four year period ( 1970-1 973) on the reproductive performance of cows grazing either native pasture stocked at 1 breeder 4.9 ha-1 or native pasture oversown with Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis) and fertilized with superphosphate, stocked at 1 breeder 2.4 ha-1. Animals were supplemented on each pasture type with combinations of molasses, urea and phosphorus at various times of the year. Mating from September 1 to January 31 resulted in animals lactating during the dry season. At double the stocking rate, lactating cows on fertilized pastures had similar conception rates to those on native pasture. During a prolonged dry season, lactating cows on fertilized pasture had twice the conception rate and fewer required survival feeding. Urea compared with non-urea based supplements produced significant increases in conception rates of cows grazing native pasture especially during a dry year. Calves were born earlier, had shorter intercalving intervals and fewer cows had to be fed a survival ration when urea was available. On fertilized pasture, urea based supplements caused only a marginal increase in conception rate except in a dry year, when there was a significant increase. Over the four years, there was a diminishing response in the conception rate of lactating cows grazing native pasture and supplemented with phosphorus during the wet season compared with the control. On fertilized pasture, there was a variable but non-significant response. The addition of phosphorus either as a wet or dry season supplement to urea caused variable responses on each pasture type, but none differed significantly from that of urea.


1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (86) ◽  
pp. 357 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Winks ◽  
FC Lamberth ◽  
PK O'Rourke

The effect of phosphorus supplementation on the performance of steeres grazing unfertilized native pasture and Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis) with andwithout superphosphate fertilizer on the subcoastal spear grass region of the dry tropics of north Queensland was studied over a period of 40 months. Liveweight gains in the absence of supplementation on fertilized Townsville stylo pastures were greater than on unfertilized Townsville stylo, where performance was similar to that recorded on untreated native pasture. Phosphorus supplementation increased weight gains during the wet season on both unfertilized Townsville stylo and native pasture but had no significant effect on dry season performance or performance on fertilized Townsville stylo. Fertilized areas became dominated by annual grasses, Digitaria ciliaris and Brachiaria milliiformis, and legume yields were higher on unfertilized than on fertilized areas. Fertilizer improved the quality of available pastures.


1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (99) ◽  
pp. 389 ◽  
Author(s):  
RG Holroyd ◽  
PK O'Rourke ◽  
PJ Allan

The milk yields of Brahman cross (Bx) or Shorthorn (Sh) cows and the birth weight and growth rate of their progeny to weaning were recorded over the four years 1970-73. Animals grazed either native pasture stocked at 1 breeder 4.9 ha-1 (NP) or native pasture oversown with Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis) and fertilized with superphosphate and stocked at 1 breeder 2.4 ha-1 (TS). The animals on both pasture types were offered supplements of molasses, urea and phosphorus at various times of the year. Mating from September 1 to January 31 resulted in the cows commencing lactation during the dry season. Bx cows bore heavier calves than the Sh cows and had higher average daily milk yields. Bx calves grew faster from birth to weaning and were heavier at 180 days (P < 0.05 in both cases). Pasture type had a variable effect on milk yield in the two genotypes. Sh cows produced more milk on TS than on NP in all years (P < 0.05 for years 1 and 3). However, milk yields from the Bx were higher on NP than on TS in years 1 and 2 (P < 0.05 for year 1). Pasture type had little effect on birth weight but calves on TS generally grew faster and had higher weaning weights than those on NP. Supplements only increased milk yields in year 1 (P < 0.05 for urea and phosphorus fed during the dry season). Supplements caused no significant increases in birth weight, average daily gain (ADG), or weaning weight. In all years there were significant (P < 0.01) correlations of ADG with milk yield, birth weight and weaning weights. Male calves weighed more at birth and grew faster than female calves (P< 0.05)


2019 ◽  
pp. 58-62
Author(s):  
Vlad Stegariu ◽  
Simona Andreea Popușoi ◽  
Beatrice Abălașei ◽  
Nicolae Lucian Voinea ◽  
Ioan Stelescu ◽  
...  

Chess playing has a significant role in participants’ resources allocation, both at a psychological level, but mostly concerning the cognitive resources. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of chess playing on the intellectual development of primary-class students. 67 children were tested using the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices and were distributed in three different groups according to their experience with chess, namely: the control group (formed by students with no experience with chess playing), the beginners group (students with less than one year in chess playing training) and the advanced group (children with more than two years experience with chess). Results indicated that chess playing had a significant effect on the SPM performance, indicating that those in the advanced group performed significantly better than those in the control or in the beginners group. Conclusions of this study tap into the benefits of playing chess with a focus on the children’s’ cognitive development.


2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 788 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. E. Pettit ◽  
T. D. Jardine ◽  
S. K. Hamilton ◽  
V. Sinnamon ◽  
D. Valdez ◽  
...  

The present study indicates the critical role of hydrologic connectivity in floodplain waterholes in the wet–dry tropics of northern Australia. These waterbodies provide dry-season refugia for plants and animals, are a hotspot of productivity, and are a critical part in the subsistence economy of many remote Aboriginal communities. We examined seasonal changes in water quality and aquatic plant cover of floodplain waterholes, and related changes to variation of waterhole depth and visitation by livestock. The waterholes showed declining water quality through the dry season, which was exacerbated by more frequent cattle usage as conditions became progressively drier, which also increased turbidity and nutrient concentrations. Aquatic macrophyte biomass was highest in the early dry season, and declined as the dry season progressed. Remaining macrophytes were flushed out by the first wet-season flows, although they quickly re-establish later during the wet season. Waterholes of greater depth were more resistant to the effects of cattle disturbance, and seasonal flushing of the waterholes with wet-season flooding homogenised the water quality and increased plant cover of previously disparate waterholes. Therefore, maintaining high levels of connectivity between the river and its floodplain is vital for the persistence of these waterholes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 2096 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Schatz

This study compares the performance of F1 Senepol × Brahman steers (F1 SEN) to Brahman (BRAH) steers in an Indonesian feedlot. The focus was to address concerns that crossbred cattle are discriminated against by live export cattle buyers due to a perception that they do not perform as well as Brahmans in Indonesian feedlots. F1 SEN (n = 54) and BRAH (n = 32) steers that had grazed together since weaning at Douglas Daly Research Farm (Northern Territory) were exported to Indonesia and fed for 121 days in a feedlot near Lampung (Sumatra, Indonesia). The average daily gain of the F1 SEN steers over the feeding period was 0.17 kg/day higher (P < 0.001) than the BRAH steers (1.71 vs 1.54 kg/day). As a result the F1 SEN put on an average of 21.6 kg more over the 121-day feeding period and they did not have a higher mortality rate. Consequently, F1 SEN steers performed better than BRAH in an Indonesian feedlot and these results should encourage live export cattle buyers to purchase this type of cattle (Brahman crossed with a tropically adapted Bos taurus breed) with confidence that they can perform at least as well as Brahmans in Indonesian feedlots, although it should be noted that growth rates are usually higher in F1 crosses than in subsequent generations.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 474-479
Author(s):  
Robert B. Elliott

Seven children with cystic fibrosis (CF) have been treated for at least one year with intravenously administered soya oil emulsion. In all, an improvement of at least one biochemical abnormality in character with the disease appeared. The children's clinical course remains benign. This course is remarkably better than that of other children with CF treated without Intralipid in Auckland in the same period, though a placebo effect cannot be discounted. It is postulated that intravenous supplementation with essential fatty acid in CF may in turn partially correct an error of metabolism of prostaglandins present in the disease.


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