International trends
Pivots help expand forage production on the Pampas
Installing pivots led to a five-fold increase in cattle numbers on this Argentina operation. Adapted from the Fall 2017 T-L Irrigation View
Unfortunately, Rovella says most of the soils in the San Luis province are sandy and do not retain moisture very well, which is the main reason he turned to irrigation units to increase beef production.
S
ix years ago, Mario Rovella owned about 4,000 head of Angus, Hereford and Braford (Hereford/Brahman cross) cattle that he
grazed on four different farms in the San Luis province of Argentina. Today, the cow/calf herd has grown to 20,000 head ... a five-fold increase. No, the farms didn’t get any larger and he didn’t expand the feedlot. It’s because Rovella has installed 28 center pivot units since 2011.
“In the past, it required 10 hectares (25 acres) of land to support one animal,” he explains. “Thanks to irrigation, we can now support one animal for every 1½ hectares (3.7 acres).”
Located near the center of Argentina, which is in the southern part of South America, the San Luis province incorporates everything from dry Pampa grasslands and pre-Andean hills, mountains and salt flats to irrigated farms of corn, sorghum and sunflowers and fields of fig trees and asparagus.
It’s just to the west of the capital city of San Luis where Rovella owns the La Primavera operation. The other four Rovella farms — Santa Rita, San Jorge, Bella Vista and El Silencio — are located about 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of the capital city.
“Everything we grow is for producing cattle,” he says. “That includes 4,200 hectares (10,378 acres) of maize (corn), triticale, alfalfa, avena (oats) and sorghum — both grain and forage — all of which are under pivot irrigation. In addition, we have approximately 8,000 hectares (19,768 acres) of Buffelgrass that is not irrigated that is used as pasture year-around.”
Meanwhile, most of the irrigated crops go to the feedlot, where calves are fed grain and silage until they reach a market weight of around 420 to 450 kilograms (926-992 pounds), or are used to supplement winter pasture. While some corn and sorghum is harvested as grain, Rovella says nearly 90 percent of all the crops are chopped as silage.
Irrigation has allowed Rovella to grow his cattle operation from 4,000 to 20,000 head in six years. 36 Irrigation TODAY | October 2018
Photo credit: T-L Irrigation
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
