Grazing legumes in sheep nutrition: possibilities of use and animal performance

Abstract

In Brazil livestock production is facilitated by the extensive areas of pasture available and the possibility of lower production costs compared to other feeding systems. However, native pastures with lack of adequate management can show severe nutritional deficiencies and cultivated pastures, managed erroneously, tend to decay. The use of forage legumes has potential benefits to the pastoral environment, such as incorporation of nitrogen to the system, increase on support capacity and quality of pastures intercropped with grasses, as well as improvement of nutrition to animals and these gains in performance. The use of legumes in ruminants production systems can be made, among other ways, under intercropped grazing with grass species, like supplement or protein sources and even as private supplementation to young animals (creep grazing). The objective of this essay is to discuss the potential use of forage legumes in sheep production, especially the main forms of use and results in animal performance during the past decade.