Dairy R&D in SA

In a survey among dairy farmers in 2017, it was found that routine evaluation of cows, groups and/or herds for SCC was relatively low at 67% for cows and groups and 53% for whole herd testing. The majority of high SCC cows are however treated. Only 1% of dairy farmers reported to clip or flame udders. Approximately 50% of dairy farms pre-dip, lower than in some other parts of the world and approximately a third of producers either do not strip or wipe and/ or do not use gloves.

There is reason to believe that diurnal patterns for enzymatic activity exist, as bacterial numbers have been shown to be influenced by time of feeding. Also, when performing ruminal in vitro studies, little attention is given to the time of day when rumen fluid is sampled, thereby not controlling variation caused by diurnal patterns and the effect it might have on starch, NDF, and protein digestibility. Additionally, often results are compared between in vitro studies without considering time of rumen fluid collection or feeding time.

Discipline: management;

Replacement heifer rearing is often neglected on dairy farms because for farmers the cost of rearing heifers apparently outweighs the advantage of well grown-out heifers. These advantages manifest in early conception and milk yield. To investigate trends in heifer raising, weights for age as a measure of heifer feeding programs were studied in the Western Cape.

Discipline: breeding;

Discipline: environment: 

Discipline: yogurt; 

Discipline: Performance measurement/milk recording; 

Discipline: environment: 

Discipline: mastitis; 

Discipline: health & welfare; 

Project title: Impact of Fasciola hepatica on dairy production and sustainable management on selected farms in South Africa

Principal researcher: Dr J.A. van Wyk, University of Pretoria.