Dairy R&D in SA

Discipline: quality; 

The report here is part of the Milk SA R & D programme to find solutions to the milk flocculation problem in the dairy industry. The investigation on the influence of psychrotrophic bacteria is by Prof Celia Hugo and postgraduate students at the University of the Free State. 

Discipline: contamination; Key words: Listeria monocytogenes, listeriosis, soft cheese, stress

Discipline: breeding; Key words: lifetime efficiency, productive life, Holstein cows.

Discipline: economics; Key words: sustainability, environmental impact, total factor productivity, pasture-based dairy. 

Discipline: development; Key words: entrepreneurship, dairy cattle, food security, indigenous knowledge systems.

The authors referenced below did a case study in the local municipality areas of Matatiele and Groblersdal to explore and identify the drivers of dairy smallholder farmer decisions. They found the following as determining factors:

• dairy farming is dominated by male farmers who were over 60 years old;

The South African dairy industry shows immense diversity when it comes to mastitis management practices. However, if consistently executed, which should improve udder health and milk flow, it could be satisfactory, but supporting the diversity by extension is a challenge. As is the case globally, the dairy industry is aware of and actively addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). To that effect, a survey was funded by Milk SA to record what practices are followed and a project: ‘Resistance to Available Antibiotics in Lactating Cows with Mastitis’, was initiated in 2015.

Dairy farmers increasingly are employing precision farming practices and computer software that enables them to manage large herds at the individual animal level. In South Africa, dairy farmers have been adopting similar strategies with a trend towards larger production units and the incorporation of automatic milking systems (AMSs). The software used in automatic systems can record production, reproduction and health parameters daily.

Dairy farming generally has small profit margins. A large capital outlay is required at start-up while daily operations also require a high, mostly feed, cost input. A number of factors affect the economic success of dairy farming. The average milk yield of cows is often regarded as the most important factor affecting profit margins. Although, generally, higher producing dairy herds have higher profits, a high average milk yield does not always guarantee high profits, because production systems differ, for example TMR and pasture-based systems.