During the dry season, pasture quality declines with reduced protein and increased fiber, making protein supplementation essential for maintaining animal performance. The key principle is that nitrogen in the rumen (from protein or urea) enables rumen bacteria to degrade fiber more effectively; at nitrogen levels around 8, fiber degradation increases from 30% to 50%, and at 15, both fiber degradation and dry matter intake are optimized. For effective supplementation, the protein supplement should contain 45-50% crude protein, with an optimal ratio of 30% true protein (like soybean meal) to 70% non-protein nitrogen (urea), as this combination maximizes both fiber degradation and microbial protein synthesis. The minimum dietary protein requirement is 8%, calculated by considering pasture protein content and supplement proportion in the diet.
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If there's one thing that changes the outcome [of music] on the farm, it's not just what you do, it's understanding why you're doing it. In livestock farming, results don't just come from working harder; they come from understanding the system and making better decisions within it, because often the problem isn't in the pasture, the supplement, or the animal; it's in how all of these elements connect on the farm. And that's exactly what we're talking about here [music]. Dues Lados da Porteira was created to discuss livestock farming in a practical, strategic way, without guesswork. Every week we bring you music with themes that directly impact animal performance, field productivity, and operational profitability. Management, consumption, pasture, supplementation, decision-making – always connecting the technical fundamentals with the reality of the farm, because in the end, those who learn to interpret the system begin to make better decisions within it.
Welcome to Two Sides of the Gate, the weekly live stream from nafazenda.com. Every Tuesday at 7 PM. [music] Hi.
Hello. How about adding a little something extra to this opening, like a "wow" factor, to get us more prepared, don't you think? Yeah, I was looking here, hey.
[laughs] Suddenly it does, man, I was on my phone too, I said: "Wow, it has n't started yet." And someone was calling me insistently here. Someone must be trying to offer me a credit card with a limit of R$ 200,000.
Certainty. Mario, let's go get, let's buy cattle.
Yes, let's go, let's buy cattle. We buy the calves, and the rest we buy in protein supplements. It remains to be seen which protein supplement. We'll find out by the end of today.
Look at that! Okay, deal? So, if you call me, I'll pick it up, we already know what we're going to do there. It's closed.
Hey, everything alright?
I'm right, man. I'm excited. So, I was even going to record an Easter video for our Instagram today, then I saw that you recorded one. I said, "Ah, at the end of the day I'll record it," and it passed, and I didn't even finish recording. It's been a crazy rush here, thank God. But you know, today's topic is the one I was going to talk about, maybe the one I most enjoy discussing all year, if I had to choose one that I most enjoy talking about, I think it's today's topic, you know?
Great. It's a topic because people have a lot of myths or perhaps many false truths when we talk about supplementation during the dry season. And a good point is, we have some graphs that seem complex at first glance, but the way we're going to talk about them makes them quite simple to understand. And every time I have the opportunity to talk, like we're going to talk about today with this information, I notice that people's level of awareness about the importance of some things related to the dry season increases, you know, Mario? So, it's literally a chat about raising awareness about why things are the way they are during the dry season, you know?
And it's really great because there are a lot of false truths when we talk about the dry season, Right?
Yes. Yeah, and maybe because it's one of those things, I think people go looking for it, right? Even if there are these false truths, anyway.
Because I think it's a painful period, right? It's a period where we can feel what's happening, right?
Because during the rainy season, even though we might not reach the maximum performance that the pasture tends to offer, mentally it seems good, it's raining, there's pasture, and this dry period, I think it's a painful period, so I think people usually tend to be more active, right?
It's a question that goes more in line with what you're saying, right?
Sometimes I do some training sessions, we're in a face-to-face environment, and you always like to provoke the group and ask questions. And even throwing this question here, if the people who are with us in the chat want to answer, it would be cool to see. But, for example, if we had to spend R$1, a coin. So, to spend on supplements, right? Where would you prefer to spend it? During the dry season or the rainy season? Where would you spend that R$1 you have available? During the dry season or the rainy season? Anyone who wants to comment on where they would spend it, put it in the chat. Let's get things moving here. Where would you like to spend it? I think I answered this question almost two years ago.
I think our first dry season chat, on both sides of the gate, two years ago, I think it was something like that, talking about, you know, if I had a little money, where would I invest it?
And where would you invest it, Mariane?
Mateus, like this, look. I would invest it during the dry season.
Invest. Do you remember what you answered two years ago?
No, man. Usually when we do this, we ask this question like this, look, Gustavo commented on the dry season, Ana, but I answered the opposite, I think at the time, and Nilson said during the rainy season. And that's the point, most of the time people answer during the rainy season.
And that's the point, Because when we focus on the water season, we think about the animal's absolute weight gain, right? As if it were a logic of pushing the animal downhill.
But if we remember what we emphasize every week incessantly, that supplementation is responsible for building additional weight gain in the animal, the potential for additional weight gain during the dry season is much greater than the potential for additional weight gain during the rainy season, right? The point is that during the rainy season we start from a base that is already covering the cost of the animal on the farm.
During the dry season, we start from a base that is sometimes negative.
So supplementation carries the burden of paying for the cost of supplementation and making the animal gain weight to start paying for pasture, paying for operations, and paying for everything else. So the burden that supplementation carries during the dry season is very heavy.
It's much greater, right?
It's very heavy. But the additional weight gain from supplementation during the dry season is greater than the additional weight gain from supplementation during the rainy season.
And that's an important point, a great opportunity for our business.
Remember the effect The additive we were talking about, we always want to explore the additional effect of adding a layer of consumption. If we think about it, during the rainy season, the animal continues eating pasture, and we add a layer of consumption with protein supplement.
During the dry season, the animal eats the protein supplement, and its effect on pasture consumption is to maintain and increase it.
So the effect here is to enhance the pasture. So supplementation during the dry season is very, very welcome. The problem is that the pasture is very poor, right? So we have to have this vision of the system and the opportunities we can explore within the farm, right?
And here's another myth about dry season supplementation, which is what? Oh, if I give protein, my animals will eat more pasture, right? Let's even answer that at the end. Should we or shouldn't we give protein supplement when the pasture is grazed?
Right?
That's right. But, let's get into the conversation. Well, first, let's say good evening to everyone. Okay, I'll say goodnight to everyone. While you're doing our little opening, I'll close the office door and be right back, okay?
So, go ahead. Okay, let's go, shall we? Another Tuesday, our live chat here on both sides of the gate. Every week we're here talking about livestock farming.
Uh, this month, right, in May, last week, we did a Q& A.
Uh, today we're going to talk all about protein supplements, right? I even said, Mateus, let's have a chat just about protein supplements, because we usually talk about low-consumption protein supplements, protein-energy supplements.
I said, let's intensify it a little.
So, every week we have a live chat here. If you're arriving here for the first time, welcome to this weekly chat.
If you 're already part of our team, welcome too, right? Always. There are new names in the chat, there are the older names there, the older group is here with us on both sides too. And this chat is recorded here for a while, then it goes offline, right, and becomes part of our chat database within the Farm Club. So, thank you for being here. And so, Mateus, I think, you say, we haven't even aligned this chat, right? You see that we're just, I'm going to put my cell phone to charge here, because the battery is running out. You talked about this, why is there this additional gain, right, above drought compared to rainy season?
Let's understand with the pasture complaint.
Let's start then with a little theory here so we can understand this rationale and answer your question, okay? I think it's an important point.
And now is the time, eliminate all distractions you have around you for the next 20 minutes. All I ask of you is this: there are three graphs that we're going to discuss in detail that will change the way you look at dry pasture. So I guarantee it eliminates any and all distractions.
I'm finding here, Mari, first, the group is very quiet, so I wanted to hear from you all who, at this moment, have a strategy of using low-consumption protein on the farm.
Exactly. Or even put there who, what are their doubts related to supplementation during the dry season. And when you write, our audience is getting lower every week. You know what I'm noticing?
That the audiences at our paid events are much larger than at the free events.
That's right, it's true.
So, let's increase our audience at the free event, otherwise what will that conclude for us? So click on the little arrow, send it to a friend, send it to the livestock farmer groups.
We've already done several actions here for you to try to invite more people to be here. Let's start doing more of our part too, posting more things there for you to follow.
But anyway, but Okay, let's get to the content, Mariane, shall we? People are saying things like, "I'm going to make protein supplements." Ari said she will, Henrique said he will. I want to know, guys. So? There are 12 people here.
Who's going to make the most protein supplements? Who's not?
Anyway, this slide is just a single provocation. Every year there's a drought on the farm. The question is: are you prepared?
Because, look, whether @dobeir will hit R$ 400, whether the calf will hold up at R$20, I can't say.
Now, one thing I'm sure of. The blessed drought, it will arrive sooner or later, but it will arrive weaker, stronger, sooner or later, but it will arrive.
We live in a tropical country, beautiful by nature, blessed by God, but drought is part of our year.
Basically, the climatic conditions change. It stops raining, it gets colder, the days get shorter. Here in Maringá, it's still dark at 6:30 in the morning, man. But here Also, 6:30?
No, here it's about 10 to 6, it's dark here.
Exactly. And the consequence of that, besides Mari waking up more tired, is that the pasture dries up.
You know what's funny? Like this, I wake up and then there's the solar energy circuit breaker.
Uh, around December, for example, January, it would be 5 in the morning, poof, it would turn on.
Now I'm having coffee at 10 to 6, it turns on.
You saw the difference, right? It's good that we have short days, right? It's already quite noticeable.
And the consequence of that is that our pasture dries up. Basically, when the pasture dries up, what happens? The protein will drop a lot. The protein will drop a lot and the fiber will increase. So, the main component that the animal feeds on during the dry season is fiber.
And pay attention, if the main component that the animal is feeding on is fiber, we have to understand what is limiting its digestion in the humerus and how Optimize its digestion. Do you agree?
If the only thing that... well, it's not the only thing, let's understand, right? If the main component of dry pasture is fiber, when we talk about something related to animal nutrition, do you agree with me that our objective is how do I best utilize that fiber?
Makes sense, right? If the only thing the animal eats is fiber, how do I best utilize that fiber? That's the main question that comes to mind, right? And there's a lot of work involved, right?
Actually, there was a lecture by Professor Edenio that he gave back in 2010, and it was fantastic. It's three graphs, and Mari knows, and those who know me know, I'm passionate about that lecture because the day I heard it, my understanding of supplementation changed drastically.
When we see a graph like that, our first reaction is to be scared, to say: "No, what is that?"
But calm down, we'll understand the graph detail by detail, and you'll see how simple it is, okay?
So, now, for that moment, everyone, forget that... People are on YouTube. I'm going to ask if it makes sense or not. It 's not about engagement, it's nothing like that.
It's just to know if you're understanding, because if you're not understanding, it's important that we stop and go back to the reasoning. So, if you can, please interact with us in the next three slides, it will help us a lot to make this knowledge more tangible for you.
I know this knowledge, Mar already knows it. The goal is for you to understand, okay?
So, look, Mari, what's in this graph here, right? There are some ugly names, for example, ruminal ammoniacal nitrogen, effectively degraded fraction of NDF.
We look at f, oh my God, what is that?
Translating this into simpler language. So, basically what we have here on the X-axis here, this axis here, which goes from 6 to 24, it's showing these little numbers here, in a very simple translation, is the amount of nitrogen in the rumen.
Nitrogen, for those who don't know, comes from the protein the animal eats.
So, the animal eats protein or urea. When this falls into the rumen, it's broken down and releases nitrogen.
This nitrogen is used by the bacteria that live inside the rumen to break down the food the animal consumes. Did you understand that? So it's like this: The ruminant animal, the cow, it has a rumen, it consumes food, this food reaches the rumen, it's colonized and broken down by the bacteria that live there.
The amount of nitrogen in the rumen dictates the work of these bacteria. So this nitrogen here, it's a substrate for the bacteria to work with. And what do they work to do? Then we go to the other axis.
This axis here, the Y-axis that goes from 02 to 06, it's showing us what? How much NDF? And here, for those who do n't know what NDF is, read this. How much fiber is degraded? What is degraded? What is used, is it? consumed. So, basically, it's a graph that will correlate what? How much nitrogen will be inside the rumen, inside the animal's stomach.
Why do I need to understand this? Because if I understand what the optimal amount of nitrogen is, I know how much is in the grass, I know how much needs to be added via supplementation.
So it will correlate the amount of nitrogen inside the rumen with how much fiber is being degraded.
Later I'll translate this into a diet, but let's understand the numbers here. So, look, the effectively degraded fraction. When the fiber is degraded, you can see that it goes from 0.2, that is, 20%, to 60%. Oh, Mateus, isn't all the fiber that the animal consumes 100% degraded?
No food is 100% degraded.
Even we, if we ate and degraded, used 100% of the food, we wouldn't poop, right?
So, the physical proof that the animal doesn't use all the fiber it consumes is that it poops. Poop.
The part of the food that it doesn't break down, that it doesn't utilize, is called feces.
Look how interesting. When the amount of nitrogen is close to six, don't worry about the unit, only about the effect. Here, okay? When it's close to six, of the fiber that the animal consumes, it's utilizing less than 30%.
How so? This here is a small fiber that the animal is consuming.
Of this fiber here that we're calling 100%, if it were to take this little piece here, which is 30%, it would utilize it, and all the rest would go away.
Where would it go? It washes away the feces.
You know those ringed, dry, fibrous feces?
That's the fiber that wasn't digested in the rumen and is going away in the feces.
Now, look how interesting, we start putting nitrogen in the rumen up to about eight, I start with fiber utilization of 28, 30% and go up to close to... 50%.
Here, folks, we're looking at a single fiber. So, when I increase the amount of nitrogen in the rumen, I'm going from 30%, let's round it up, okay?
From 30% to 50% of the fiber. In other words, I used to utilize 30%, and now I'm utilizing 50% of that fiber. That is, we're utilizing more or less of the same feed.
Now it's your turn to participate with me to see if you understood. At least one person writes down if they utilized more or less of the feed. I used to utilize 30%, and now I'm utilizing 50% when the amount of nitrogen in the rumen increases. Oh, Mateus, but doesn't it utilize more than 50%? No. Why? Because the rest that remains there is the fiber that is bound to lignin and ends up not being utilized by the rumen. So what happened? We go from six to eight, we reach a plateau, and look there.
Even if I increase the amount of nitrogen in the rumen, I've reached the maximum digestion potential. That fiber. Did you understand that?
So here it's independent of how much the animal eats. Let's look here. I'm talking about a single fiber. If the rumen is able, it utilizes 30. If the rumen isn't able, it utilizes 50.
And you're to be congratulated. You already answered that there, see? When nitrogen increases in the rumen, it will utilize more fiber.
And then we understood that there's a plateau.
I highlighted it there, see? I don't think I need to say much, but I highlighted three moments just for us to remember, like, review time.
At eight, we reach the plateau. So, we have three moments. One, the rumen is limited. Why? The microbial activity is limited because there's a lack of nitrogen for the bacteria to degrade the fiber.
Remember this number here, see? Six. You 'll see later its correlation with how much protein should be in the animal's diet. We started putting protein in the rumen, it came to a second moment here, see. We added N, the bacteria start "As we work, fiber degradation increases, reaching a plateau at point 3 here, which is close to 50%.
If I increase it more than eight, fiber degradation doesn't increase.
We're on the same page here. Any questions, Dr. Mariane?
No, actually no.
Okay then. Have you been teaching ruminant nutrition to your students as well?
No, not yet.
That day will come. Mariana.
Mariana is now a teacher.
Oh, Mari. No, but look, if we don't... well, let's start thinking, for example, about what Mateus said here. If I add protein, right, oh, sorry, I added N, I increased it, almost doubled it, right? From 30 to 50.
So we almost doubled the degradation rate.
That... that thing you said at the beginning that you'll answer at the end, the class can already answer.
Exactly. For example, if your animal ate a single leaf, would you want it to... that single leaf, they..." Would they utilize 50% or 30%?
If the answer is, I would like him to utilize 50%, you already know what you have to do, increase the nitrogen in the rumen.
Look here, how interesting. Ana said: "It doesn't increase degradation because it doesn't increase the amount of bacteria." No, Ana.
That will be the next graph. The degradation here we are talking about in relation to the feed. So, if I have one or 10 bacteria working to degrade this fiber, the amount of fiber degraded will be the same.
What will change? The speed at which this fiber is degraded. Do you agree with me?
Because, look, what is this graph showing? At this moment, this first graph shows, I have a fiber, I degraded 30%. When I added nitro to the rumen, I increased the degradation to 50%.
From 50 onwards it doesn't degrade anymore, even adding more nitrogen.
Why? Because here, from here on it wo n't. If I had one bacterium working or 10 or 100 bacteria working, this part here, look, is non-degradable. This part is not degradable, OK?
So, great. So, I reached the plateau, why? Because I reached the maximum potential of fiber that is there to be consumed. For example, it's like I have a plate with rice and beans and look, it's all food.
My 100% is what? It's the plate of rice and beans.
I consumed it, I was able, I had a fork, to say that I went there and ate all the rice and beans. I can't eat the plate.
Okay. That's it, Ana, because of the lignin. Got it? Now, look how cool this is, the next graph is about to begin.
Ana already gave us a spoiler.
Look what this graph shows us.
It will relate the amount of nitrogen in the rumen to fiber consumption.
And look how interesting this graph is. When we increase the amount of nitrogen in the rumen, what is happening to fiber consumption? Ibra?
It's increasing. Do you see this here?
Nitrogen increased. It went from one to three. Oh, I increase nitrogen, I increase consumption. Why did consumption increase?
Remember that we had the same fiber there to degrade 50%.
But when I increase the amount of nitrogen in the rumen, what conditions do I create for things to happen in the rumen? I need more bacteria working to break down that fiber. Do you agree with me?
If I have more bacteria working to degrade that 50%, will that 50% degradation happen faster or slower with more bacteria? It will happen faster. If it happens faster, what happens?
This food will make the rumen work faster.
If you leave the food, it will make the rum digest faster, and it will create space for the animal to eat again. If he eats again, what happens to his consumption?
It increases.
And then we reach a plateau close to 15.
So the minimum for the rumen to function would be eight nitrogen levels in the rumen, and at 15 we would be optimizing luminal processes and the animal's dry matter intake. Because what we want is not to increase pasture consumption; whenever we talk about supplementation, our goal is not to add layers of consumption, folks. The more layers of consumption I can aggregate, the better, right?
The animal will gain more weight. So think about it, if we go there and apply the supplement correctly, I add a layer of supplement consumption and I can still bring a positive effect to the animal by adding another layer of pasture consumption, will that be better or worse?
Do you understand this?
And so, you see, that's why, Mateus, when we talk about, for example, protein supplements, our main focus is protein, right? Like, we discuss protein a lot, because look how cool, as Mateus said, it goes from 30% degradation to 50%, which is almost double, right? But in this process of doubling down, what do we enhance? The animal eats more, consumes more, and in addition to consuming more, it will have more nutrients available to generate additional weight gain. Exactly.
So, he eats and enjoys it more, that's right. So he'll eat more and get more nutrients, utilizing more protein—not just the protein from the supplement, obviously—but he'll also have more energy, right? So he will be able to achieve a higher additional performance than if he were there on dry pasture.
With that phrase from Mari, I'm even going to anticipate the answer like this. If we don't have pasture, because, you see, the pasture is dry, the animal is limiting its consumption. Let's think about it this way: dry pasture and plenty of pasture available.
The animal is limiting its food intake.
Why? Because he eats that pasture, it's dry, the fiber digestibility is low, that fiber takes a long time to digest, and it ends up taking up space in the cow's stomach.
The consequence of this is a drop in consumption.
When we supplement, we increase fiber degradation and the rate of degradation. The consequence of this is that the food increases the rate of passage, so the animal automatically eats it.
And what Mario said is an important point. The animal eats more and gets more benefit. It's not simply a matter of eating more and not enjoying it more.
Now, if we're in a scenario of pasture shortage, we've already learned that what's limiting consumption when pasture shortage is a present scenario on the farm is no longer rumen fill. What 's limiting the animal's consumption is the availability of pasture. If an animal spends 12, 13, 14, 15 hours grazing and, due to lack of pasture, it cannot fill its belly. So, if I don't have pasture, I'm not going to give them protein supplement because otherwise my animals will eat more. He won't eat anymore because there's no more food for him to eat. Do you agree with me? Like, there's no pasture.
What's limiting the animal's consumption isn't fiber, but rather food availability. This animal is going crazy all day trying to eat and can't because there's not enough food available. So I ask you, if I give him protein supplement, will he graze more?
No. Why won't he graze anymore?
Because there's no more food for him to graze on, there's no food for him. Then he won't eat grass anymore. Now is the time for me to find out if you understood or not.
If I don't celebrate Easter, he won't eat anymore. But given the little he eats, would you prefer him to enjoy it more or less?
Because consumption is limited, it's not due to fiber, it's due to the food supply. Do you agree?
In this scenario, would you prefer him to eat more, to make better use of the little he eats, or to make less use of what he eats? You just saw there that when I introduce nitrogen into the rumen, I go from 30% to 50% fiber degradation.
The animal is already eating very little because there is no food. So you go there because some blessed soul told you that you don't have to take a protein supplement, and you say, "No, I'm going to take a protein supplement." Okay, he's going to go hungry and get little benefit from what he eats. That's what you're doing by not giving your animals protein supplements. You're simply telling them, "Eat this awful stuff, and of all the awful stuff you're eating, you'll only get 30% of it." That's what you're doing. And if there's no food, you'll say, "Besides going hungry, you'll get even less out of it." You're kind of kneeling, but kneeling on corn kernels. You don't kneel, you only kneel, right? Did you understand that? I don't think I've ever spoken that way before, Mariana.
Worse than that, no.
Not last time.
Two years ago, right? I think I've been eating protein for the last two years, I've improved a bit, Mar.
So, let's mark the points there.
Microbial activity was limited at level one, I moved it to level two, which would be close to level eight, improved fiber degradation, and it reached a plateau. But what happens?
When you go from two to three, I increase the amount of hygiene, I'll have more bacteria working, I increase fiber degradation, which increases the passage rate, frees up space in the rumen, and increases consumption.
If consumption increases, the animal gains more weight. So, I see the people, right? But I can't put animals there, otherwise they'll eat too much grass, and I don't want my animals to gain weight, do I?
Ah, Mateus, but how much should be in the animal's diet?
And then there's this other graph, look, what does it relate to us? The amount of nitrogen in the ren and the crude protein in the diet.
It's right there. So, if I want eight, well, eight is the minimum. So, you would need a diet with 8% protein. Diet, what does it mean to understand it? Paste plus supplement to avoid limiting microbial activity.
And 15 here, look, it's related to 12, right?
So, if I have a diet with 12g of protein, I would be injecting roughly 15g of ammonia nitrogen. Why is this boom happening here? It's because of the nitrogen cycle. We're not going to get into that now, because this is a more complex issue. Did you understand that?
How do I know if the rumen isn't working? Look at our fecal friends.
It's ringed. The rum isn't working.
No, I'm going to... can I break the script, Mari?
Sure, you can.
Here is the classic effect of supplementation.
So I wanted to do a little math with you guys here. I'm going to break the script.
I had a teacher who used to say that we would never be able to do math if we hadn't practiced it beforehand.
I'm feeling bold and daring today, and I'm going to do the math without having planned anything beforehand. And we'll see what happens.
And if I mess up here, you guys can yell at me, but I think it's going to be a cool thing.
Let's go.
As for an animal, you're very small.
Let me increase it a little more here.
Now it's good. Okay.
I'm going with the classic approach here; I'm not going to be literal. How much grass does an animal eat? I'll put in 2% of my live weight. Ah, but remember the story from version 1.2? Okay. I just want to explain a logic to you. Then you guys can do the exact number there.
And how much of the supplement does he take?
01 which is the protein supplement.
Okay, Mari? So, at the end of the day here, look, he's going to eat this one plus this one.
Ah, I want to simplify the "Ah, it has an additive effect." Let's simplify things here so you understand what I mean.
So, if this animal weighs 300 kg, I'm going to do it this way here, because it will make it easier for you to see. This animal weighs 300 kg, so I'll put the weight of the ox here to make it very clear.
300 kg. So, this animal is going to eat.
Let me move up a line here, we can be even more didactic.
The bull weighs 300 kg.
Here, consumption is expressed as a percentage of live weight. Maybe we'll send this to someone later, right, Mar? For those who are in the WhatsApp group, we can send this in the WhatsApp group. What do you think, Mari? We are going yes.
So here, if we think about consumption in kilograms, what will it be? 300 kg live weight times 2%. So, this animal eats 6 kg of dry matter. Let's put it here. Then there are always the armchair critics, saying things like, "Let's put in kilos of dry matter and you'll only eat 300g of supplement." At the end of the day, this animal ate 6 + 6.3, which is 6.3 kg of dry matter. Don't worry, you'll understand where I'm going with this.
Percentage of each thing in the diet.
In the diet. How do we do that?
Assuming the animal will eat all of this pasture and all of this supplement, we have a 6.3/6.3 ratio, meaning 95% of the diet is pasture and 5% is supplement. Why did I do this here?
You're about to have a free, live lesson on formulation.
The percentage of crude protein in the ingredient, whether it's a pasture ingredient or a supplement ingredient, right?
How much protein does our pasture have during the dry season? Let's put 6% to be generous.
So here, look, 6%.
In other words, the animal is consuming here, when we think about diet, the animal is eating six here, coming from the pasture, it eats something that has 6% times 95. So, coming here, of the protein consumption it would need, it's getting 5.7 from the pasture. Did you understand this calculation?
The question is, how much protein does my protein need to have so that when I multiply it by 5%, it gives me a number here, like this, and then adds this to that number, which will give me at least 8%. Did you understand the calculation?
Yes or no? In other words, I need to find out what's here. How much protein am I missing to reach the eight goals? Oops, 2.3 is missing.
In other words, now I need to understand it like this: To reach the 8% in the diet, I need to take that 2.3 and put it into 5%. Do you agree with me?
In other words, if I take 2.3 and divide it by 5%, there you have it, how much protein should my protein supplement have to correct the rumen?
48% crude protein. Wow, Mariane, what a lesson we're giving and delivering here. If you've liked this yet, please leave a like, because I've never been this didactic in my life.
Yeah, we've never done that calculation live.
And you only put in the minimum amount, right?
8%, right?
Exactly. And then people will want to use protein supplements with 30% or 35% protein during the dry season. Is it useful for anything?
No, buddy. Give it salt with urea, it will be better because it will introduce more nitrogen into the rumen. 35. The cow's feces will remain soft.
Remember when we said that at eight it won't get soft, it will become hard. He's just testing you to see if you were awake enough to pay attention [laughs] at eight.
But look how cool! Throw in 12 down there and see. With eight, we'll put some rum to work.
We have an opportunity to explore this from ages 8 to 12, class. Obviously, if we put 12 here, it's going to give us a pretty high number there. Nobody's going to do that.
But note that eight is the minimum. Eight is the minimum.
So, when we talk about a protein supplement for the dry season with 45 to 50% protein, you won't be wrong.
Play in that universe between 45 and 50 and you ca n't go wrong.
And there's a point here, we do n't know the consumption patterns of pass. If we look here and change the fuel consumption from 1 to 1.7, the calculation will change completely. And it's correct like this, look, this calculation will be 1.7. Because when we think about 1.2 divided by 0.7, oops, 1.2% divided, I said, look, it was too good to be true, right? Divided by 7 equals 1.2%.
Let's put it here, in percentage, which is the consumption of NDF (Neutral Detergent Fiber). Let's write it here. NDF consumption here is 70%, which is the NDF from dry pasture. If we look here, 1.2/ 07, here it is, the potential consumption of dry pasture.
If we look at it from here, this one is the same as this one. It 's right there. That's why we joke about how much protein a protein supplement should have? It's between 45 and 50, class.
From 45 to 50. Oh Ana, this work by Eden consists of several published papers, but there's a lecture he gave at Sincorte in 2009 or 2010 that summarizes this within this chapter.
Uh, you must be, I think you're a student of practical supplementation, right? If you go, you'll find that material attached to one of the dry season classes, okay?
So, yes, that's an important point. Here we put a bad person to work, folks.
So, you see, talking about protein supplements with 30 or 35 mg of protein during the dry season is n't going to solve our problem. The good part is, we're talking about a product that eats g.
The animal eats 300 g. If we're going to think about a protein supplement with 45mg of protein or a protein supplement with 35mg of protein, let's consider this: That's how we think.
How much does a protein supplement with 35% protein cost? Ah, it costs 250 per kg, and one with 45% protein will cost 3.50 per kg.
Man, I don't even know the price, I'm just guessing.
Let's think in terms of reais per day. We're talking about an animal costing 75 cents a day.
or a daily rate of 1.5. We're talking about a difference of 30 cents. Now I ask you, do you think it's worth spending an extra 30 cents to explore the fiber effect we talked about?
Will this pay off? Let's think about it, a difference of 30 cents, how much does that cost here? It's a golden rule, okay? How much does an arroba of beef cost today?
One arroba costs R$ 350.
So, 1 kg is 1 kg of live weight. Wow, Mari, where are we going?
Divided by 30. 1 kg of live weight costs 11.66.
This is the point of equilibrium, look. What 's the GMD (General Market Data) to pay those 30 cents over there?
It is equal to 30 cents divided by 11.70. The animal needs to gain an extra 25g per day to cover this cost. My question is, do you think the animal will gain an additional 25g per day if I correct the degradation potential of the fiber it's consuming?
Because out of 45, oh, if I put it here, oh, if I come down to six, it'll go.
My God. It 's right there.
So, you see, consumption is very low, so we shouldn't want to save money on things we don't need. Is that clear, everyone?
Then Henrique told us at some point, "Look, scenario consuming protein supplement 01." Yes, when we talk about protein and energy, Henrique, the perspective and analysis change completely, because then we're going to consider not only protein, but also energy. So, to greatly simplify everything that happens, the fact that I have energy means I'm further increasing the rate of degradation, which generates an even greater need for nitrogen. It enters into another level of complexity.
If Mari tells me to talk about it, we can discuss it in another live stream. Mariane is the one who decides what topics to play here. AND. And also because, here in the protein supplement section, I think I can, if I'm wrong, you can correct me, Mateus.
When we talk about low- consumption protein, we're looking at the animal, right? So I'm looking at the animal, at how much additional income it will have.
When we look at the protein-energy strategy, I stop looking at the animal and start looking at the hectare.
Exactly.
Because then we move on, ah, it's not about asking, it's about looking at the scenery, at the water, this effect of the hectare is even more striking. During the dry season, if we delve into the use of substitutes, it becomes a problem during the rainy season because it replaces good pasture with good supplements. Yes.
During a drought, if we replace poor pasture with good supplements, we have an additional benefit immediately. So, we can continue looking at it by animal percentage as well, but also considering what you mentioned, which is the benefit per hectare.
The benefit of the hectare. Matthew, look, let's go. We're starting by squeezing in the time, and let me see. Oh there. You're going to say "daia." That's what I'm asking. Because, look, you 've shown the potential, right, to increase consumption by incorporating protein into the supplement. Uh-huh.
Then you demonstrated in practice, live, right, why so much in the supplementation course, or even specifically in the protein level, that many people question.
Hey Mario, let me ask you a question.
After you see this explanation, do you think you need to record the "Supplementation in Practice 2.0" video?
Yes, you have to record because you played live, so you're going to record, [laughs] oh. Don't expect me to give you a different answer.
But go ahead, continue with that line of reasoning.
[laughs] No, but actually now I'm sure you'll have to record because the explanation dynamic has completely changed, right?
Yeah.
So, we talked about it, you mentioned the protein level, so it became very clear why you're so focused on reaching 40%. Uh-huh.
So, look, this relationship, for example, I even see some low-consumption protein supplements that people use that contain very little urea.
So, this small amount of urea actually addresses Ana's question, like this: What is what? You have to adapt the protein supplement from wet season to dry season.
Not in theory. In practice, it does.
Why? Because that way, the animal will eat 300g of protein supplement. This protein supplement, if you're going to use it very high, will have 15% urea. So 10% of 300 equals 30, plus 5% equals 15. Therefore, this animal needs 45g of urea per day. 45 g of urea per day. You're not going to kill a cow, there's no way. It's impossible to kill a cow. But like this, look.
Ah, why does it kill? Because it kills, because you misused it. So, for example, sometimes the water supply runs out on the farm, and these animals go 10 days without seeing any supplement.
It's been 10 days without seeing a supplement. Then you go there and supplement. Obviously, these cattle will be hungry, and instead of eating 300g, they will eat 1kg. And that's where problems can arise.
Or you go to a farm, it's supposed to have 10 meters of trough, but it only has five. Then you add up the hungry animals, with half the trough area available, and a dominant animal arrives to eat. What is he going to do? Go devour the protein.
What's going to happen? It will cause poisoning, and you'll say that comurea protein supplements kill you and that it has nothing to do with it.
So, in theory, there's no need to adapt it. In practice, it makes an adjustment because the insurance policy is outdated.
Right? I think that's it. We have this little task here to wrap up our rationale for today.
And even then, Henrique was asked, "Does the protein have 1/3 protein?"
1/3 of which protein? No, it couldn't possibly have 1/3 of the protein.
Why? Because, look, when you put it in, you're going to eat it three times, so you might get 1/3 of the protein. No. That's another question many people get wrong.
Why? When you put energy into the rumen, you won't accelerate the growth rate of the bacteria.
Go. The fact that it has energy, I'm talking about it in a very simple way, okay? My apologies to all the biochemists out there, but when you put energy into rum, the consequence is that more bacteria will grow. And because more bacteria grow, they require more substrate, but what kind of substrate is that? Nitrogen. So, basically it's not like, uh, I'm going to speed it up and divide by three. No, that's not the logic. The logic behind supplementation is a bit more complex, isn't it? Simply put, I give it three times, divide by three, because it's for more energy, I changed my supplementation strategy. I have a class on practical supplementation where we explain this in detail, Henrique, so if you're interested, I think it's worth checking out.
You're going to really like the course; those who take it really enjoy it, okay? This one here, look, is another little job for us, like this. Let's grab a magnifying glass now and put it over the protein supplement formulation. We've already learned that it has to have at least 40% protein. It needs to have somewhere between 40 and 50% protein. But we can have two sources of protein. We try a formulation; we can add protein-rich meals, for example, soybean meal.
Soybean meal is an excellent source of protein, and when it reaches rum, it will be broken down and release nitrogen. And there's another source that Ana even mentioned there, which is urea, right? And the question is: is there an ideal ratio we can work with in a formulation to determine the ideal amount of soybean meal and the ideal amount of urea? Again, look. Here's the standard for the content we're going to give you now.
So there, look, we're going to understand this little assignment like this: what does it say there? It's work done using an in vitro assay, okay? It's in a small bottle, but it translates very well for us what we can explore in this direction. So, casein over there, look, is a true protein. To make things easier, where it says casein, let's read soybean meal. Urea underneath.
So, basically, what did this study examine? Different relationships. Look over there!
There are four relationships. I only had the fodder on the little bar there on the column.
Then I had the forage plus one of the combinations. So, there was one that had 100% soy flour or 100% casein and no urea at all. It's like having a protein supplement without urea.
Then I had another protein supplement where, of that protein in the formula, 2/3 of it came from true protein and 1/3 came from urea.
The third option was that only 1/3 came from soy milk, 1/3 came from true protein, and 2/3 came from urea. And the last one there was 100% curex-only. It would be a salt with urea, it didn't have anything other than soy, right? And that's what this work investigated or studied, look how interesting. First thing, he said, " Remember when we talked about the degradation rate?"
How much of the food that the animal consumes is actually being broken down?
So, look how interesting that is over there. I increased the availability of nitrogen in Humen in the form of urea, which is the little line down here, see? I've been increasing it here, see? Look what happened to the amount of fiber degradation. I gradually increased the rate of fiber degradation.
Dude, that's cool. Why? Because I 'm breaking down more of the food than the animal was consuming.
Cool, right? Then it gets to a point here, see, where there's a slight drop when I only use urea.
If the choice were based solely on cost, perhaps only this option would be somewhat interesting.
But look how cool the bottom part is! Remember when I told you that in the rumen, bacteria break down fiber and grow in that process?
So, energy is produced for the animal from the breakdown of the fiber. And the growth of bacteria is what it produces. This microbial mass, when it reaches the intestine, will be digested and turned into protein for the animal.
The protein in food is really crazy, isn't it? For those who want to learn more later, the supplementary material is practical; we'll discuss it in detail. But the food that the animal consumes, the protein in that food, is a substrate for bacteria to grow. The bacteria that grow are what become the protein in the animal's diet.
So we have to be experts here at growing bacteria. And look how interesting this is.
When I only have urea, I break down a lot of fiber, but I synthesize very little bacteria. Now, when we have this ratio here, with 30% of the protein coming from soybean meal and 70% coming from urea, I have the best degradation rate and the best microbial synthesis, meaning I have greater energy production in the rumen and greater growth of microbial protein, which is more protein for the animal.
Wow, fantastic, Mateus. All of this is great, but I don't know how to put it into practice.
That's how it works in practice. I want to formulate a protein supplement on the farm with 50% protein.
I know that 70% of it has to come in the form of urea. So, for a 50 x 70 mix, I have to allocate 35% of the protein as NNP (non-protein nitrogen).
Dude, that's really easy. I know that 35 mg of urea contains 281 mg of protein. I'm going to put 12.5% urea in my formula.
This is a rule that's part of the practical application process. Formulating in Practice is a course; it consists of five questions, five or six questions, you answer them, and you formulate any supplement.
We've already taught, I think, more than 1000 ranchers and technicians how to formulate plans using pen and paper or a blank action plan spreadsheet. And this is one of the logics, it's one of the questions that we answer, it's right there. So, I put 12.5g of urea in the protein supplement. The rest is a beacon of soy, corn, artificial ingredients, corn, white salt, and kernel.
Boom, I made my formulation.
It's easy to say, isn't it? It seems too easy to be true. But that's how it is, right? But yes, I had a few more slides to show here, but I'll leave that for another time.
Time has already run out, but I think that's it. We got a really good overview of the world of low-consumption protein supplements during the dry season. I liked that, Mari.
No, it turned out great, actually, right?
We delivered, man!
Nilson, Nilson put it here, uh, I see I have to start with protein supplement 01. [laughs] And that's it, right? I think it's become pretty clear how much protein tends to bring that additional gain, that it pays for itself.
And I think that several times, you know, we've talked about the return, right, that you invest a coin and it brings you three, four times what you're investing. I think there was even one of the immersion sessions, if I'm not mistaken, where you showed a calculation at that moment, if the protein supplement was costing like R$ 5 per kg, remember that was quite exorbitant, the cost broke even when using protein on the farm.
Here, Mari, it's even greater, because back in the water, when we did the calculation, the additional gain was 150g.
Here the additional gain is 200 g.
So, man, when thinking about raising cattle, protein supplementation during the dry season is mandatory, right? The problem is, we've seen people using protein supplements during the dry season for raising cattle, Mar. I think it's already a reality. The point, the point is how people are using it wrong, you understand? They're trying to save money.
Like, sometimes, for example, a guy goes and buys a protein shake with additives, man. It's like tearing up money, it's literally taking the money and doing this, like this. Why? The additive's effect will select for bacteria in the rumen, the bacteria that work best.
If I don't correct the endogen deficiency in the rumen, what good is bacteria? Everyone's just lying there, arms crossed, sleeping.
Nothing's going to change, man.
Eager to multiply.
Remove the damn additive from the proto-method; it should be there, but it should be in the wrong base.
So, first you fix the rumen, then you put the additive in there to work.
That's right. And just a reminder, Mateus, that those who have been working, for example, with mineral salt in the water or even a specific enriched salt, know that the spacing between feedings increases when they start using protein supplements. So, that's also one of the mistakes, right? Actually, I think that during the rainy season, oh, sorry, during the dry season, I think we could plan a chat like that, remember when we talked about the X-ray of supplementation? Uh-huh. Let's talk. It's delicious. That was a great chat we had back then, and it really reflects this reality, you know, about how to do this X-ray and see these bottlenecks, you know, that we talked about back then.
Yes. Juan sent it here, look, Juan.
We're talking about low- consumption farming, okay? In the Excel spreadsheet, when we entered the data, we even included the consumption of 0.1% of the live prisoner.
The focus here, our entire conversation, was on supplement consumption. We commented to answer a question there, specifically regarding the amount of protein when we go to a 03; it's not about dividing the quantity by three. We explained why, but we're talking about a number 01 here, okay? Just to make it clear so you understand. AND. So, here we go. We'll make the spreadsheet available in the group, on both sides.
And for those who still have doubts about how to use supplements, how to incorporate protein supplements on the farm, or how to formulate a protein supplement, I think it became quite clear there regarding protein levels and how to explore urea levels. But for anyone who has any doubts about that, we have both courses, right? Both supplementation in practice and formulation, which brings all that basis of formulation and supplementation.
Yes. Oh, just to leave you all wanting more, and a very simple answer like that, you won't understand all the logic behind things, you just wouldn't have time. But when we switch to a protein-energy feed or a HIP feed, it's as if the NNP-to-protein ratio is reversed. Because as I accelerate with rumen energy, I need more nitrogen, but I also need more nitrogen from true protein. So, for us to work with, the ratio is reversed: 70% of the protein comes from bran and 30% comes from urea. So, for cost reasons, we can balance things out to some values, like 60, 40, that's a good reference point.
It's OK?
Cool, man. I think that's it, Maren. I'm here to talk, but I love people like this, you know. If you want to thank us for a cool deal, which you could even do as a form of promotion, take a screenshot of our thumbs-up.
Post it on Instagram, tag @donafazenda, and write something like, "Two sides of the gate, this one is worth it, this one I recommend." I think this is a way for you to help us bring more people in here. It's even a way of saying thank you. If this made sense to you, if you learned something from us here today, then this is my request to you.
Help us spread the word a bit more about the " Dois da Porteira" (Two from the Gate) event. Take a screenshot of this, post it on Instagram, tag @donafazenda, and say: "Every Friday, Tuesday at 7 pm, Mário and Mateus are there, it's worth it.
" Help us spread the word. Beauty?
That's it. Let's see, let's see. If the group doesn't start helping us, I think we'll have to do what you suggested, which is to charge for the chats monthly, because then I think the group will start to participate more, to be more enthusiastic. That's great, Mateus, thank you! The chat was great.
Next week, guys, you have to thank Mari.
You have to thank Mari, not me, because Mari suggested the topic.
If it weren't for Mari talking like that, oh.
Well, all of this came from Mari's suggestions. I'll tell you all that, you see, Mari's suggestions always bring out good things in me. Any ideas, bro? [laughs] Mario, what do you think? She always disagrees because she's the contrarian type, but in the end, some good things always come out of it. I end up doing what I wanted to do. I'm always in control and then I say, "Okay," and I just respond like this: " Okay." That's how the ending goes, you see. When I ask Maria for suggestions, it's literally double the work, because I do what I want to do, because I'm also stubborn. After all, they are two Aries within the same company.
Well, I end up doing what I wanted and what she suggested. So, a conversation with Mariane always means double the work, but it's always good, right, Mari? It 's not great. Yes, I am the fuel promoter. Mario, you are my protector.
Okay, agreed. Oh, next week we have a special guest.
Confirmed.
Oh, it has to be there, right? If she doesn't show up, I'll kill her. [laughs] I don't even want to know.
Oh, I'm trying to get myself out of the way. Don't come here to kill anyone. [laughs] Deal? So, we'll let you know the dates in the groups for the next few days, everyone.
Thanks. Mateus, thank you very much, and we'll continue from here.
It cost. Goodbye. Goodbye. Okay, I'm going to wrap things up with our little video, so I'll see you tomorrow. You can then. It's OK. And I'm leaving.
Go ahead. Goodbye. Goodbye.
If there's one thing that changes the outcome [of music] on the farm, it's not just what you do, it's understanding why you're doing it. In livestock farming, results don't just come from working harder, they come from understanding the system and making better decisions within it. Because often the problem isn't in the pasture, it isn't in the supplement, nor in the animal, it's in how all of that connects within the farm. And that's exactly what we're talking about here [music]. Dues Lados da Porteira was created to discuss livestock farming [through music] in a practical, strategic way, without guesswork. Every week we cover topics that directly impact animal performance, field productivity, and operational profitability. Management, consumption, pasture, supplementation, decision-making, always connecting the technical fundamentals with the reality of the farm, because in the end, those who learn to interpret the system begin to make better decisions within it. Welcome to Two Sides of the Gate, the weekly live stream from nafazenda.com. Every Tuesday at 7 PM. [music]
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