Dairy R&D in SA

Discipline: Reproduction Keywords: MUN, urea, reproduction, season, subtropics

Discipline: pastures; Keywords: kikuyu-ryegrass pastures, stocking rates, weedy species, Plantain, clover, Lucerne, Tall Fescue, monoculture, mixed species.

Discipline: environment; Keywords: GHG, emission reduction, net zero, carbon sequestration, systems dynamic model, dairy production systems. 

Sustainability of the SA Dairy Industry has been a focus point of Milk SA for some time. This is supported in a dynamic strategic and commitment report, entitled: ‘Sustainability in the SA dairy Industry: A Status and Progress Report’. The report is structured according to the FAO-IDF Dairy ®Declaration of Rotterdam (DDoR) and the Dairy Sustainability Framework (DSF), which endorses the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and provides guidelines for sustainable development. One of the central topics is carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction in the dairy sector, with commitment intentions towards achieving ‘net zero’ sooner rather than later.

Discipline: digestion; Keywords:  diurnal variation, enzymatic activity, digestibility, rumen fluid, dairy cows

Discipline: stress; Keywords: dairy cows, heat stress, physiology, rectal temperature, temperature-humidity index.

Discipline: cheese; Keywords: cheese quality, fermented products, nutritional qualities, raw milk.

Discipline: mastitis; Keywords: Streptococcus uberis, SCC, clinical mastitis, biofilm, AMR, antimicrobials, susceptibility.

Discipline: pasture, grazing; Keywords: Pasture yield optimization, nitrogen use efficiency; nitrogen fertilization, farm-N-balance, carbon footprint.                                                                                                                                  

Discipline: mastitis; Keywords: economic loss, SCC, TMR and pasture-based systems, failure cost, preventive cost.

Mastitis results in large economic loss to both farmer and processor. In addition it has welfare implications for the cow and antimicrobial resistance concerns. Therefore, describing and analysing the measures used to prevent the disease and to minimize the losses remain important. For example, somatic cell count (SCC) directly affects revenue from the sale of milk and in one of the investigations the revenue loss was studied.   

Discipline: management; economics; Keywords: cattle, world trade, methane emission, photosynthesis, carbon sequestration, grazing capacity, cover crops