Dairy R&D in SA

At the recent Large Herds conference held at Port Elizabeth between 2 and 5 June 2019 there were two poster presentations on developing analyses systems to add value to existing program outputs which should assist farmers and consultants in strategizing, breeding and management. Here are the Abstracts:

1. A newly developed system of obtaining Dairy Cattle farm-recorded data from automated systems to be used for biological and economic benchmarking as well as future genetic merit predictions

     by DA Kruger, RR vd Westhuizen & D Victor, SA Stud Book, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

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   PROJECTS, CAPACITIES AND PUBLICATIONS BY PROGRAMME LEADER AT INSTITUTION.

   
   
   

    

   
   

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   Banga, Cuthbert and others - ARC-Irene.

   
   
   

   Projects:

Discipline: environment; Keywords: environmental science, national security, ecological restoration, benefits and costs, system dynamics, opportunity cost of degradation. 

Discipline: economics; Keywords: milk yield, lifetime production, age at first calving, lifetime profit margin, modelling.  

Discipline: lactation; Keywords: high milk yield, simulation model, extended lactation, calving interval, profitability.

Discipline: environment; Key words: environmental crisis, easement, assets, restoration, economics, accounting, natural capital. 

Discipline: lactation; Key words: early post-partum, feed intake, BCS, milk production, maize particle size, TMR.

Discipline: infection; Key words: helminths, anthelmintic resistance, phytotherapy, bioactive forages, vaccines, grazing management.

An elicitation exercise was conducted to collect and identify pressing questions concerning the study of helminths in livestock, to help guide research priorities. The authors cited below are the primary global experts who compiled the report. Whereas this presentation does not cover research results as usual, I consider it important to share their ideas with the reader as a main focus of our R & D is in control of parasites and because prominent researchers in the group are South African or South African of origin.

Discipline: mastitis; Key words: teat canal, udder health, milking machine settings, milk flow, VaDia, take-off time, vented liners.

Discipline: quality; Key words: age gelation, UHT milk, plasmin. Proteases, psychro-tolerant bacteria, free fatty acids, chemicals, gases.