Dairy R&D in SA

Cattle have been the focus of an intense debate between those concerned about, among other things, the possible negative effects on global warming, land degradation, food competition and human health, and those who are positive toward the possible role of cattle in maintaining global socio-economic and environmental sustainability.

The authors postulated that the performance of dairy cows grazing ryegrass pastures may be enhanced if the amino acid balance in the small intestine is enhanced. Being normally in short supply on ryegrass, supplementation with rumen-protected methionine (RPM) and lysine (RPL) could be beneficial. This was then investigated in the study.

The Swartland area utilizes winter cereal crops and mostly relies on small grain cereals as silage in dairy cow diets. These crops are usually lower in crude protein (CP) and result in lower dry matter (DM) yields than either maize or lucerne, which implies that more CP concentrates at extra cost need to be supplemented to achieve the milk yields wanted. Therefore, it has become important to evaluate alternative forage sources to grain-only silages. This then forms the basis for the investigation cited.

As the dairy industry expands to meet demand, there will be a significant increase in the use of scarce water resources and therefore an increased generation of wastewater. The milking parlour is one area where wastewater can be minimised. Here, wastewater is generated through cleaning processes that occur before and after milking. This results in two wastewater streams: 1) wastewater from cleaning, disinfection and sanitation of milking machinery and equipment (i.e.

Understanding, and where possible, quantifying the stress that dairy cows experience has become a focal point in animal welfare studies. Whereas the environmental stressors have been well-studied, the addition of sensory stimuli, some of which are associated with indoor comfort, is relatively new. Auditory stimuli have been shown to have potential in reducing stress in the parlour, but is seldom applied. Therefore, the study of the authors cited below, aimed to explore the effect of auditory stimuli in a Holstein herd by monitoring the faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations.

The study was conducted employing a system dynamics model which has been developed to assist dairy farmers to calculate and monitor the impact of environmental indicators. Farm information was collected from six dairy farms on the south-eastern seaboard varying in cow-in-milk numbers between 260 and 706 and milk productions between 4600 and 8000kg FPCM per year.

Goal: Is to develop best practice guidelines for improved wetland and river management on dairy farms.

Some conclusions and recommendations from the study:  

General aim of the project: To develop an acceptable probiotic yoghurt product containing selected probiotic strains with the potential to prevent candidiasis, listeriosis and diarrhoea.

Goals in 2022:

Although many antibiotics are unsanctioned sold over the counter, veterinarians are primarily responsible for prescribing and administering antibiotics to animals and are critical to appropriate antibiotic use in animal health. The authors cited below, therefore conducted a survey to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of veterinarians and health professionals on antibiotic use, resistance, and its containment in the country in order to inform interventions to optimise use and contain resistance.

Definitions: Various definitions used by prominent world organizations provide pointers to answering this question. The World Organization for Animal Health defines Animal Welfare as “the physical and mental state of an animal in relation to the conditions in which it lives and dies”, whereas World Animal Protection defines it as “the quality of life experienced by an animal and encompasses how well the animal is coping with his or her current situation and surroundings“. So, animal care which is more encompassing comes into the picture.