Forage peanut legume as a strategy for improving beef production without increasing livestock greenhouse gas emissions

The transformation of pastures from a degraded state to sustainable productivity is a major challenge in tropical livestock production. Stoloniferous forage legumes such as Arachis pintoi (forage peanut) are one of the most promising alternatives for intensifying pasture-based beef livestock operations with reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This 2-year study assessed beef cattle performance, nutrient intake and digestibility, and balance of GHG emissions in three pasture types (PT): (1) mixed Palisade grass - Urochloa brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) R.D. Webster (syn. Brachiaria brizantha Stapf cv. Marandu) and forage peanut (A. pintoi Krapov. & W.C. Greg. cv. BRS Mandobi) pastures (Mixed), (2) monoculture Palisade grass pastures with 150 kg of N/ha per year (Fertilized), and (3) monoculture Palisade grass without N fertilizer (Control). Continuous stocking with a variable stocking rate was used in a randomized complete block design, with four replicates per treatment. The average daily gain and carcass gain were not influenced by the PT (P = 0.439 and P = 0.100, respectively) and were, on average, 0.433 kg/animal/day and 83.4 kg/animal, respectively. Fertilized and Mixed pastures increased by 102 and 31.5%, respectively, the liveweight gain per area (kg/ha/yr) compared to the Control pasture (P < 0.001). The heifers In the Mixed pasture had lower CH4 emissions (g/animal/day; P = 0.009), achieving a reduction of 12.6% and 10.1% when compared to the Fertilized and Control pastures, respectively. Annual (N2O) emissions (g/animal) and per kg carcass weight gain were 59.8 and 63.1% lower, respectively, in the Mixed pasture compared to the Fertilized pasture (P < 0.001). Mixed pasture mitigated approximately 23% of kg CO2eq/kg of carcass when substituting 150 kg of N/ha per year via fertilizer. Mixed pastures with forage peanut are a promising solution to recover degraded tropical pastures by providing increased animal production with lower GHG emissions.