Economic viability of the use of crude glycerin supplements in diets for grazing crossbred calves

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the economic returns of crossbred calves grazing on pastures formed by Urochloa brizantha fed crude glycerin as a supplement. Thirty-six crossbred calves with initial average weight of 301.5 kg were distributed in a completely randomized design with four treatments and nine replicates per treatment. The animals were maintained on rotational grazing production of Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu. The tested treatments were 0.0, 3.33, 6.66 and 9.99% inclusion of crude glycerin in the total dry matter as a substitute for corn. The production of meat was not altered by the inclusion of glycerin in the diet. The inclusion of glycerin caused a reduction of up to 14.93% in the price of the concentrate. There was a significant increase in the total balance, which rose from 3.76 to 91.89 R$/ha with the inclusion of glycerin. The inclusion of crude glycerin in the supplement was capable of raising the net present value and the internal rate of return, proving to be an alternative to reduce the cost of production of supplemented pastured animals.

Keywords

• beef cattle
• biodiesel
• byproducts
• weight gain