Milk Yield In Farms Research Articles

Perspective: Can early embryonic losses be reduced in lactating dairy cows?

Perspective: Can early embryonic losses be reduced in lactating dairy cows?

MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS MARKET IN AKMOLA REGION OF KAZAKHSTAN

Recommendations for solving the problems of sustainable development of milk and dairy products market in the region are based on the study of its current state and promising directions. The dynamics of production of milk and its processing products, export and import, livestock and productivity of cows is analyzed. The contribution of various categories of farms to the receipt of raw milk has been studied, while the lag in milk yield in farms and households from agricultural enterprises has been revealed. The analysis of expenses in agricultural enterprises is presented, as well as the structure of material costs. The main problems of effective development of the industry of dairy cattle breeding include tendency to reduce the area under fodder crops; a weak feed base and increase in feed prices, which leads to the increase in the cost of milk; reduction in the number of dairy cows; small commodity farms, that is, the concentration of main volumes of milk production in households where the introduction of intensive innovative technologies is difficult; seasonality of the process; non-observance of veterinary and sanitary standards. The regional features of location of dairy processing enterprises have been investigated, confirming the close relationship between the development of the dairy industry and the raw material base. Those of them have been identified, which account for the largest share in production of the range of dairy products. The organizational structure of the milk processing enterprise "Gormolzavod" LLP was studied, the calculation of butter was made using its own raw materials. The competitive advantages of the processing enterprises of the region are revealed.

ТЕНДЕНЦИИ И ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ РАЗВИТИЯ ПРОИЗВОДСТВА МОЛОКА

The studies were carried out in order to identify factors affecting the efficiency of milk production in Ulyanovsk region, to subsequently determine the most important measures for the development of the industry. The bulk of marketed milk in the region is produced by agricultural enterprises. Despite the strengthening of state support measures to stimulate dairy farming, the growth rate of milk production in agricultural organizations in the region remains low. For 2014 - 2018 gross milk yield in farms of this category increased by only 5.7% and was due to increased productivity of cows. At the same time, milk production efficiency decreased from 27.9 to 21.9%, and its growth was noted only in 7 regions of the region. In 11 districts, a decrease in the profitability of milk production for 2014–2018, ranged from 6.2 to 71.5 percentage points. According to the results of the grouping of agricultural enterprises of Ulyanovsk region, the highest level of profitability of milk production is due to the increased average annual milk yield from 1 cow, a larger share of feed costs in the total cost of maintaining the dairy herd, low production and sale costs of 1 centner of milk, and a high selling price of 1 centner milk. Achieving high profitability is possible only with the optimal combination of these factors. Strengthening the fodder base will contribute to increasing the efficiency of milk production in Ulyanovsk region, which will ensure further development of the industry and create conditions for increasing the volume of milk and dairy products

Comparing dairy farm milk yield and components, somatic cell score, and reproductive performance among United States regions using summer to winter ratios

Heat stress abatement is a challenge for dairy producers in the United States, especially in the southern states. Thus, managing heat stress is critical to maintain dairy cow performance in the summer. The ability to employ a metric to measure heat stress and evaluate abatement strategies may benefit dairy producers by providing meaningful feedback on the effectiveness of current and future management strategies with the goal of improving heat stress management. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the use of the summer to winter performance ratio metric to quantify and compare farm performance variables among regions of the United States. Monthly performance data recorded by the Dairy Herd Improvement Association from 2007 to 2016, for all US Dairy Herd Improvement Association herds processing records through Dairy Records Management Systems (Raleigh, NC), were obtained. Season dates were based on the astronomical definition of the Northern Hemisphere with summer as June 21 to September 21 and winter as December 21 to March 19. States were grouped into regions based on climate zone classification. Performance records included a total of 16,573 herds [Northeast (n = 7,955), Midwest (n = 6,555), Northern Plains (n = 305), Southeast (n = 1,370), and Southern Plains (n = 388) regions]. Herd test day performance variables energy-corrected milk, somatic cell score, milk fat and protein percentage, conception rate, heat detection rate, and pregnancy rate in summer and winter were used to calculate summer to winter ratios for each region. The MIXED procedure of SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) was used to compare test day performance variables. The effects of year, mean days in milk, mean 150-d milk, mean herd size, and number of milkings per day were included as covariates in the models. Dairy cattle performance in all climate regions was negatively affected by summer heat stress, but some regions greater than others. A difference was also observed among regions when comparing summer to winter ratios for each performance parameter. This indicates that summer performance varies by climate region identified by the summer to winter ratio and demonstrates usefulness of the metric to monitor degree of heat stress based on performance.

Co-evolution of landscape patterns and agricultural intensification: An example of dairy farming in a traditional Dutch landscape

The intensification of agricultural production strongly affects the characteristics of traditional rural landscapes. Yet, the complexity of these landscapes also puts constraints on intensification. This interrelationship leads to the hypothesis that the degree of intensification and locality are interdependent. Feedbacks between landscape and intensification often go unnoticed, while such a coupling would argue for spatial explicit studies with a co-evolutionary perspective. In this study, we localized and quantified interactions between landscape patterns and agricultural intensification for dairy farming systems in a traditional Dutch rural landscape. First, a conceptual diagram was made that maps causal interactions between landscape patterns and production intensity. This conceptual diagram was converted to spatial explicit descriptors of landscape patterns, such as hedge density, field size, clay content, ground water hydrology and spatial explicit descriptors of management such as hedgerow change, field aggregation, field grazing days and fertilizer application. Next, these landscape patterns and management descriptors were linked to the current production intensity of farms such as total farm milk yield, milk yield per cow and milk yield per hectare. These descriptors were tested for interrelations by applying two-sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests. We found that a higher milk production was significantly linked to larger fields, fewer hedgerows, fewer grazing days, higher use of N-fertilizer and a decrease of nutrient cycling. Furthermore, production intensity was found to differ with the landscape pattern of clay content and groundwater hydrology. On top of this landscape template, man-made patterns of field sizes and hedgerows from before 1930 are still visible in the current differences of milk production intensity. Current farm management was found to have relations with the hedgerows, field size, clay content and groundwater hydrology. These relations hint at a co-evolution of landscape pattern and agricultural intensification. Interestingly, the largest differences between descriptors of landscape pattern and intensity were found for similar values of clay content, groundwater hydrology and fertilizer use. We speculate that these similar values indicate the existence of tipping points for diverging trajectories of intensification. Identification of such tipping points has implications for policies that deal with the future dynamics of rural landscapes.

Effects of heat stress on milk yield in Sardinian dairy sheep farms

The effects of heat stress on milk production of dairy ewes have been very little studied, especially under Mediterranean conditions. For this reason, such effects were studied in ten Sarda dairy sheep farms associated to the Sardinian Breeders Association, located throughout Sardinia. They had whole farm milk yield records registered every 48 hours from April 1 st until July 15 th , in the years 2003 and 2004. Meteorological data were obtained from data collected by meteorological stations of the Weather Forecast Service of Sardinia located near each farm. To determine the effects of meteorological conditions on milk yield, analysis of variance using the SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA) mixed procedure was performed. The results showed that Sarda dairy sheep were highly sensitive to high temperatures, especially when they persisted for long periods. All analysed meteorological factors, except for wind speed, significantly influenced milk yield. Milk yield was more influenced by minimum air temperatures than by any other meteorological parameter. Increases in minimum temperatures from the optimal range of 9-12 °C up to 27-30 °C caused on average a decrease in milk yield of 36% (0.35 kg/d per head). The highest milk yields were observed at maximum air temperatures ranging from 24 to 30 °C and at mean temperatures varying from 15 to 18 °C, with progressive decreases, up to 20% (about 0.22 kg/d per head), at higher temperatures. The effects of duration of temperatures higher than some threshold values on milk yield were also relevant. Optimal air relative humidity for milk production was between 65 and 75%, in accordance with values reported in the literature. Rainfall negatively influenced milk yield, probably because it disturbs grazing, with decreases up to 23% (0.20 kg/d per head) under conditions of 6 mm-cumulative rainfall in two days. Milk production was also influenced by Temperature Humidity Index (THI), with a decrement of 25% (0.23 kg/d per head) as THI increased from 60-65 to 72-75.Wind influenced milk yield only when associated with other meteorological factors; it alleviated the negative effects of heat stress on milk yield at higher speed values. In conclusion, despite of their small body size, which should favour heat exchange and thermoregulation, milk yield of Sarda ewes was markedly reduced by heat stress.

Factors affecting milk yield, milk fat, bacterial score, and bulk tank somatic cell count of dairy farms in the central region of Thailand

A study was conducted to determine the effects of season, farm location, and farm size on farm milk yield (FMY), average milk yield per cow (AYC), milk fat, bacterial score, and bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC) of dairy farms in the central region of Thailand. Farms were located in the districts of Kaeng Khoi, Muaklek, Pak Chong, and Wang Muang. Collection of data was at the farm level; individual animal records were unavailable. A total of 967,110 daily farm milk yield, 58,575 milk fat and bacterial score, and 24,109 BTSCC records from 1,034 farms were collected from July of 2003 to June of 2006. There were three seasons: rainy, summer and winter. Farms were categorized into small, medium, and large according to the number of cows milked per day. Results showed that FMY and AYC were higher (p<0.05) in winter and lower in the summer and rainy seasons. In addition, the majority of small size farms had higher (p<0.05) AYC and milk fat values, and lower bacterial score and BTSCC values than medium and large size farms.

Effect of raw sunflower seeds on goat milk production in different farming systems

Aim of this study was to test the effect of raw sunflower seeds on goat milk production. Two farms with different farming systems (intensive and semi-intensive) participated to the trial. In each farm about 60 mid-lactation Alpine goats were divided in two groups during spring-summer time. A diet containing 5-6% of sunflower seeds on DM basis was compared with a control diet in a change-over design. In the semi-intensive farm milk yield of goats fed sunflower was 3.46 kg/d compared to 3.58 kg/d of goats fed control diet, whereas in the intensive farm milk yield was 4.60 kg/d vs 4.66 kg/d. Fat content increased significantly from 2.99% to 3.23% only in the intensive farm. The research in the intensive farm investigated also milk and cheese fatty acids composition. Medium and short chain fatty acids (C8-C16) content dropped and long chain fatty acids content increased when sunflower was added. In conclusion raw sunflower seed inclusion in dairy goat diets can be useful, in order to limit the inversion of fat and protein percentages in milk.

Effects of heat stress on milk yield in Sardinian dairy sheep farms

The effects of heat stress on milk production of dairy ewes have been very little studied, especially under Mediterranean conditions. For this reason, such effects were studied in ten Sarda dairy sheep farms associated to the Sardinian Breeders Association, located throughout Sardinia. They had whole farm milk yield records registered every 48 hours from April 1st until July 15th, in the years 2003 and 2004. Meteorological data were obtained from data collected by meteorological stations of the Weather Forecast Service of Sardinia located near each farm. To determine the effects of meteorological conditions on milk yield, analysis of variance using the SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA) mixed procedure was performed. The results showed that Sarda dairy sheep were highly sensitive to high temperatures, especially when they persisted for long periods. All analysed meteorological factors, except for wind speed, significantly influenced milk yield. Milk yield was more influenced by minimum air temperatures than by any other meteorological parameter. Increases in minimum temperatures from the optimal range of 9-12 °C up to 27-30 °C caused on average a decrease in milk yield of 36% (0.35 kg/d per head). The highest milk yields were observed at maximum air temperatures ranging from 24 to 30 °C and at mean temperatures varying from 15 to 18 °C, with progressive decreases, up to 20% (about 0.22 kg/d per head), at higher temperatures. The effects of duration of temperatures higher than some threshold values on milk yield were also relevant. Optimal air relative humidity for milk production was between 65 and 75%, in accordance with values reported in the literature. Rainfall negatively influenced milk yield, probably because it disturbs grazing, with decreases up to 23% (0.20 kg/d per head) under conditions of 6 mm-cumulative rainfall in two days. Milk production was also influenced by Temperature Humidity Index (THI), with a decrement of 25% (0.23 kg/d per head) as THI increased from 60-65 to 72-75. Wind influenced milk yield only when associated with other meteorological factors; it alleviated the negative effects of heat stress on milk yield at higher speed values. In conclusion, despite of their small body size, which should favour heat exchange and thermoregulation, milk yield of Sarda ewes was markedly reduced by heat stress.

Pasture species and drought impacts on milk yield 2. Predicted farm milk yield at four sites

A desirable option for increasing milk yield per farm is to increase milk production in summer without compromising peak-season production or the duration of lactation. The dairy industry has a goal to achieve a 4% per month post-peak decline of milk production. The effect of five pasture types and two summer water regimes on predicted farm milk yield, in Northland, Waikato, Manawatu and Canterbury was measured over 1 year. Two pasture treatments, resident pasture and Grasslands Nui ryegrass, were common to all sites. A third pasture treatment varied between sites: triple mix (Grasslands Advance tall fescue, Grasslands Kara cocksfoot, and Grasslands Maru phalaris) at the Manawatu site; the same triple mix but with Grasslands Raki paspalum at the Northland site; and low-endophyte ryegrass and Grasslands Kahu timothy (LER) at the Canterbury site; all sown treatments included red and white clover. All five pasture types were included at the Waikato site. On average for all pasture types, water deficit reduced summer herbage accumulation (HA) to 79, 68, 43 and 18% of irrigated controls, and annual HA to 88, 80, 73 and 63% of irrigated controls in Northland, Waikato, Manawatu and Canterbury, respectively. Since farm milk yield predicted by UDDER was highly correlated with annual HA (R2 = 83%), the effects of pasture type and water deficit on milk yield were similar to effects on HA. Seasonal and annual HA differed among the five pasture types at each of the four sites. The most important factor affecting predicted farm milk yield was annual HA, with relatively little effect from the seasonal pattern of pasture growth. Differences in shapes of the predicted milk supply curves for various treatments occurred, particularly when drought forced early drying-off. The best predicted summer milk yield was for the Canterbury irrigated LER pasture treatment, a 6.8% per month postpeak decline of milk production. Keywords: farm milk yield, farm system modelling, forage supply, pasture species, water deficit