Bioscience Journal | 2022 | vol. 38, e38022 | ISSN 1981-3163 1 Manoel Eduardo Rozalino SANTOS 1 , Fernanda Rosalinski MORAES 1 , Gabriel de Oliveira ROCHA 2 , Davi Moraes de OLIVEIRA 3 , Flávia de Oliveira Scarpino VAN CLEEF 4 , Bruno Humberto Rezende CARVALHO 1 1 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil . 2 Postgraduate Program in Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 3 Graduating in Animal Science, Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil 4 Postgraduate Program in Animal Science, Estate University of São Paulo, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil. Corresponding author: Manoel Eduardo Rozalino Santos E-mail: manoel.rozalino@ufu.br How to cite: SANTOS, M.E.R., et al. How does the condition of the pasture in late winter influence the plant and animal responses in the subsequent seasons? Bioscience Journal. 2022, 38, e38022. https://doi.org/10.14393/BJ-v38n0a2022-54042 Abstract This study aimed to test the hypotheses: (i) the deferred pasture with lower height in late winter has greater herbage accumulation rate (HAR) and better structure, which facilitates the animal selective grazing during the subsequent spring and summer; (ii) the mowed of high pasture in late winter improves the sward structure but decreases its HAR from the spring. Four pasture condition in late winter of Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu were evaluated: low (24.1 cm and 2,420 kg.ha -1 of DM); low/mowed (25.2 cm and 2,198 kg.ha - 1 of DM, mowed at 8.0 cm); high (49.0 cm and 3,837 kg.ha -1 of DM); and high/mowed (50.0 cm and 4,211 kg.ha -1 DM, mowed at 8.0 cm). The highest live leaf blade percentage (LLBP) and the lowest dead stem percentage (DSP) occurred in the mowed pastures. The live stem (LSP) and dead leaf blade percentages of the grazing simulation sample were higher in the high pasture. This same pattern of response occurred for apparent selectivity indices (ASI) of the live leaf blade and live stem. The ASI of the dead leaf blade was greater in the high pasture, intermediate in the mowed pastures, and lower in the low pasture. The ASI of the dead stem was lower in the low pasture. The HAR was higher in low pasture. Our results support the first hypothesis. The mowing of high pasture in late winter improves the sward structure and the animal selective grazing but does not decrease the HAR during spring and summer. Keywords: Brachiaria brizantha syn. Hand-plucked sample. Morphological composition. Urochloa brizantha. 1. Introduction The deferment of the pastures makes the storage of the forage mass possible for use under grazing during winter, which reduces the negative effects of low forage production in this season on pasture-based animal production systems (Silva et al. 2016; Rocha et al. 2020; Santos et al. 2020). However, deferred pastures with high forage mass and higher height in late winter may have lower herbage accumulation in spring, due to their lower tillering caused by the greatest shading at the plant’s base (Carvalho et al. 2021). In this sense, Santana et al. (2014) verified that deferred pastures of Urochloa decumbens cv. Basilisk with more forage mass in the late winter presented a lower tiller appearance rate in early spring when compared with pastures deferred with lower forage mass in late winter. HOW DOES THE CONDITION OF THE PASTURE IN LATE WINTER INFLUENCE THE PLANT AND ANIMAL RESPONSES IN THE SUBSEQUENT SEASONS?