Table 5.
Yields and cropping input data for Brazilian feed crop production
| Crop | Yield, kg/ha | Resource use, kg/ha | Diesel, l/ha | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | P | K | Pesticides | |||
| Pasturea | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Corn silageb | 50.0 × 103 | 75.6 | 56.0 | 56.0 | 3.25 | 111.5 |
| Sugarcane silagec | 84.4 × 103 | 55.0 | 51.0 | 110.0 | 2.60 | 63.0 |
| Corn graind | 5.14 × 103 | 40.0 | 35.0 | 33.0 | 3.25 | 97.6 |
| Soybean meale | 2.44 × 103 | 8.0 | 66.0 | 62.0 | 5.09 | 32.8 |
| Cottonseed mealf | 3.19 × 103 | 83.0 | 130.0 | 122.0 | 10.59 | 40.9 |
| Citrus pulpg | 15.9 × 103 | 55.0 | 24.0 | 45.0 | 25.62 | 229.4 |
a 50:50 mixture of palisade grass (Brachiaria brizantha) and signal grass (Brachiaria decumbens). Data from the cow-calf, finishing farm and feedlots revealed no inorganic fertilizer or pesticide inputs.
b Corn silage yield data supplied from the farms involved in the study; fertilizer data from FAO (2006); pesticide data from Pignati et al. (2014) calculated using soybeans as a reference point; diesel use according to Camargo et al. (2013).
c Sugarcane silage yield data from the FAOSTAT database (FAO, 2021) specific to Brazilian production and averaged over five cropping years (2014–2019) and pro-rated for a relative freshweight silage yield factor of 2.2 (Waclawovsky et al., 2010); fertilizer data from FAO (2006); pesticide data from Pignati et al. (2014) calculated using soybeans as a reference point; diesel use calculated from data published by Pryor et al. (2017).
d Corn grain yield data from the FAOSTAT database (FAO, 2021) specific to Brazilian production and averaged over five cropping years (2014–2019); fertilizer data from FAO (2006); pesticide data from Pignati et al. (2014) calculated using soybeans as a reference point; diesel use according to Camargo et al. (2013).
e Soybean meal yield data from the FAOSTAT database (FAO, 2021) specific to Brazilian production, averaged over five cropping years (2014–2019), and pro-rated for a relative meal yield of 78.3% (North Carolina Soybean Producers Association Inc., 2014); fertilizer data from FAO (2006); pesticide data from Pollak (2020); diesel use according to Camargo et al. (2013).
f Cottonseed meal yield data from the FAOSTAT database (FAO, 2021) specific to Brazilian production, averaged over five cropping years (2014–2019), and pro-rated for a relative meal yield of 81.5% (Sawan, 2016); fertilizer data from FAO (2006); pesticide data from Pignati et al. (2014) calculated using soybeans as a reference point; diesel use according to Cotton Inc (2012).
g Citrus pulp yield data from the FAOSTAT database (FAO, 2021) specific to Brazilian production, averaged over five cropping years (2014–2019), and pro-rated for a relative pulp yield of 60.0% (Feedipedia, 2021); fertilizer data from FAO (2006); pesticide data from Coltro et al. (2009); diesel use calculated from data published by Franco Junior et al. (2014).