Dairy R&D in SA

Food contamination is a problem that the food industry still struggles, especially contamination of the food product after production. There are two pathogens in particular are of concern as the chance of the occurrence of these two are relatively higher, namely Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. A possible solution which can be considered is to introduce probiotics to the product which may have an inhibitory effect on the pathogens.

Pseudomonas is a highly competitive bacterial genus that is generally found in the environment.  They also act as opportunistic pathogens of both animals and humans. In the dairy environment it can cause a damaging form of mastitis in dairy cows and is often resistant to a wide spectrum of antibiotics which makes it difficult to treat. Ps aeruginosa, is not a factor in causing spoilage of refrigerated milk due to its high optimum growth temperature.

The main greenhouse gases (GHG) contributing to global warming potential from the agricultural sector are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Nitrous oxide has a 121-year life span in the atmosphere and a global warming potential of 265 times that of CO2, if compared over a 100-year period. This makes the control of N2O from the agricultural sector crucial to assist in mitigation of GHG emissions.

Among the problems experienced by pasture-based dairy farmers in the southern Cape are required high stocking rates, poor persistence of pastures, an increase in weed ingression in no-till pastures, and increasing input costs associated with irrigation and fertilisation. Research should thus focus on strategies that can improve the resilience and efficiency of pasture systems.

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.

The report on sustainability is structured according to the FAO-IDF Dairy Declaration of Rotterdam (DDoR) and the Dairy Sustainability Framework (DSF), which endorse the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and provides guidelines for sustainable development.

Maize is the most important non-forage carbohydrate source in high yielding dairy cow diets. Both ruminal and total tract starch digestibility of dairy and other ruminant animals are significantly impaired by high vitreous maize, compared to moderate floury or dent maize. The genetic make-up, environmental conditions of cultivation and stage of maturity collectively affect the hardness of maize.

The dairy industry is characterized by a dual production system, comprising of a high input commercial production system and low input smallholder and emerging systems. Performance data from both systems are included in the official national genetic evaluation database, with models which assume homogeneous variances. If variances are heterogeneous, above average animals in more variable herds will be favoured over high performing animals in the less variable herds. This may result in biased selection and inaccurate estimation of breeding values.

The report is structured according to the FAO-IDF Dairy Declaration of Rotterdam (DDoR) and the Dairy Sustainability Framework (DSF), which endorses the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and provides guidelines for sustainable development.

Stillbirth remains a problem in dairy herds in many countries and is increasingly included in national breeding objectives. In South Africa, however, we lack reliable information on the incidence of stillbirth that can be used to improve this trait genetically. Currently, there are no estimated breeding values (EBVs) for any measures of calving performance produced under the national genetic evaluation programmes.