TheDairySite Newsletter - 3 April 2009

Friday 3rd April 2009

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Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: From Cost-Sharing to Cattle Obesity

UK dairy farmers reacted with anger to this week's animal health 'cost sharing' proposal. The Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers said that the proposals are disgraceful and yet another â€˜kick in the teethâ€™ for exiting dairy producers.

A report by the EU Commission suggests that milk production across the European Union will increase by just three per cent to 151.4 million tonnes by 2015. Within this the Commission project that a 5 per cent fall in EU dairy cow numbers will be more than offset by an 8 per cent rise in average milk yields.

Milk yields are also set to rise in New Zealand following the work of New Zealand research hailed as an 'Epigenetic Event'. Reports said that the researchers have learnt how to manipulate the mammary gland to artificially simulate optimum environmental conditions for milk production.

Other research this week concluded that animals and humans are following similar health trends. "Obesity is a real issue in dairy cows," the Liverpool University researcher said. According to him fat cows are more prone to fatty liver syndrome - a disease he likened to type two diabetes in humans.

Adam Anson

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This Week's Feature Articles

We have 4 new features this week:

Dealing with Lameness and Mastitis
Lameness and mastitis are the two main reasons dairies in the United States lose cows, a South Dakota State University dairy scientist said.

Impact of Nutrition on Dairy Cattle Reproduction
Nutrition has an important impact on the reproductive performance of dairy cattle, writes JosÃ© Eduardo P. Santos, Ph.D.Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida. This feature was taken from the proceedings of the High Plains Dairy Conference. A full link to the proceedings is provided below.

Different Manures and their Impact on Phosphorus Runoff
The Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative, reports on the forms of phosphorus (P) in different manures and their impact on phosphorus runoff and leaching losses from manure amended soils.

New Zealand Livestock and Products
CY 2009 total slaughter is forecast at 3.895 million head, down slightly from last year, but up from the 3.65 million head originally forecasted, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

Company News

Merial Feed Analyses Now Available For All Breeds
GENERAL â€” Analyses for residual feed intake (RFI) are now available from IGENITYÂ® for both Bos taurus and Bos indicus breeds of cattle.

Pfizer Executive Joins Welfare Group's Committee
US - American Humane Certified has announced that Ann Wilkinson, associate director of global alliances for Pfizer Animal Health (PAH), has been appointed to its Scientific Advisory Committee.

Global Dairy Cattle Industry News