Dairy farming represents an important activity to small farmers, in south-west of Parana State, Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the harvest period of oat and rye grass pastures, with and without nitrogen fertilization, on dry matter and pasture quality in order to determine the best time to start grazing. The experiment was carried out in Pato Branco, PR, in a randomized block design in split plot arrangement, with four repetitions. The main plot consisted of nitrogen fertilization levels (0 and 100 kg ha-1 of N), in the form of urea. The sub plots consisted of three cutting times of oat and rye grass pasture (30, 45 and 60 days after plants cropping up). The nitrogen applied provided dry mass accumulation of 1133 kg DM ha-1 45 days after emergence, close to the amount considered adequate to start grazing. The first cutting, at this time, in association with the use of nitrogen also influenced the pasture regrowth capacity, which was indicated by the dry mass accumulation of 2398 kg of DM ha-1 obtained 30 days after this cutting. Nitrogen fertilization increased the number of oat leaves , which contributed to the high level of crude protein content (27%), showing the high quality of the material.
Potential production; winter pasture; crude protein
