Dairy R&D in SA

In a previous contribution we argued the economic benefit of restoration and as a consequence soil health, whether in a dairy farming context or national. Conceptually this seems a good argument, but does it pay? If restoration does not make economic sense, the country is better off without it. However, if it does make economic sense, then the opportunity cost of not restoring is negative – that is, the country is worse off by not restoring.

Fasciolosis, or liver fluke infection, results in reduced production and economic losses in dairy cattle and other livestock species. The lifecycle of the fluke, Fasciola hepatica, involves lymnaied snails as the intermediate host and depends on the development and survival of larval stages both in the snail and in the environment. This implies that the infection risk will depend on pasture and other areas harbouring the snails, as well as climatic and other environmental influences.

Female fertility is a fundamental trait for a profitable dairy herd enterprise. Studies have shown a decline in fertility probably because of dedicated selection for increased milk production. Age at first calving (AFC) and calving interval (CI) are prominent indicator traits to improve fertility, but these traits are greatly affected by management decisions. Service data present additional selection criteria with minimum bias.

Priority 1: The literature shows that almost any factor which has an influence on phosphate metabolism will affect the stability of milk. In the cow heat stress can reduce the availability of phosphate in the udder by up to 50%. It is also well known that the addition of phosphate salts can improve the stability of milk. One of the questions which should be addressed is whether milk not passing the 72% alizarol test has less phosphate than milk passing the 80% alizarol test. If so, it can be expected that low availability of phosphate plays a role during milk synthesis.

The genus Staphylococcus comprises various species and strains which are pathogenic. The most clinically relevant staphylococci are the coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus, members of the S. intermedius group, and the non-aureus staphylococci. A characteristic of staphylococci is their ability to develop resistance to antibiotics (for example by mutations). In South Africa, S.

This report is about progress on the research done by UKZN, cited below. The aim of the project is to identify a biological control agent antagonistic to the aquatic snails which serve as intermediate host of liver fluke. It is believed that Bacillus spp. are potential bacterial antagonists of these aquatic snail hosts, and therefore the intention is to screen a large number of Bacillus isolates for molluscicidal activity.

Important on-farm management factors: In a study1 done in 2014, the relative importance of different variables was investigated. The principle was to change one variable by one unit while keeping the others constant, and then to see what is the effect on profitability. The results, which I have averaged to limit the effect of milk buyers who differ in their payment schemes, are presented in the table for TMR and pasture-based systems.

Table: Economic values (R per unit) for TMR and pasture-based production systems

A web-based carbon footprint assessment tool was developed by the researchers cited below that will assist dairy farmers in understanding their GHG emissions and developing effective mitigation strategies and sustaining farmlands. The tool also provide a means with which to communicate and report back to stakeholders and key audiences, such as consumers, about the real impact of dairy farmers in South Africa on the environment.

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

Discipline: Composition;