Economic and productive feasibility of pasture cattle supplementation in the dry season

The aim of this paper was to evaluate technically and economically non-castrated male cattle performance, supplemented with proteic salt grazzing Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu in the dry season, in the northwest region of São Paulo State. The average weight gain was 25.78 kg animal-1 . The average costs were R$124.10 animal-1, which had a profitability of R$0.45 animal-1. Despite small profits, the supplementation allowed to accelerate the productive cycle, since the animals gained weight and were slaughtered right after the end of supplementation intake, thereby lowering the slaughtering age, time and the animal cost in the property.