Planning Dairy Development Programs in Tropical Asia
Planning Dairy Development Programs in Tropical Asia
J. B. Moran1 & J. W. Brouwer2
1
Profitable Dairy Systems, 24 Wilson St. Kyabram, Victoria 3620 Australia,
Email: jbm95@hotmail.com
2
SkyGlow Enterprises, Lot 825B, Jl Subang 6, 47510 Subang Jaya, Selangor,
Malaysia
Email: skyglow.asia@gmail.com
Abstract
There has been a history of dairy development programs in tropical Asia that
have either failed or required major revisions, for a variety of reasons. There have
been obvious biological factors such as overestimating the level of performance of
milking stock, or underestimating the required farm inputs to achieve targets for
milk production and reproduction. All too often these programs suffer because of
incorrect assumptions on the impact of the tropical environment on cow comfort,
animal health, feed quality or cow appetites. However the most common reason is
the lack of proper planning, both long and short term. This review discusses planning
requirements for three scenarios, namely regional programs, “greenfield” sites and
trouble shooting problems on existing farm developments.
Keywords: dairy development programs, on farm dairy programs, planning
Introducton
The last 20 years of dary research, development and extenson n many
Western countres has produced qute sophstcated dary producton systems.
Herd szes have grown, effcent feedng systems have evolved and many farmers
routnely montor test results on ther cows for mlk producton, composton and
qualty and for mastts. They then use ths nformaton for makng decsons on
cullng mlkng cows and for breedng genetcally mproved stock. Hgh labour costs
have led to much mechansaton, such as machne mlkng, forage conservaton and
feedng stock, whle cows grazng at pasture are able harvest ther own forages more
effcently than can farmers. Low populaton pressures, hence relatvely cheap land,
have allowed farms n Western countres to expand n both sze and cow numbers.
Unfortunately ths has not been the case for small holder dary farmers n most
Asan countres. Beng n the tropcs, feed qualty suffers from hgh temperatures,
humdtes and often strongly seasonal ranfall patterns. Dary cows are temperate
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
27
anmals wth thermo neutral (comfort) zones closer to 10°C than to 30°C. Furthermore,
hgh humdtes reduce feed ntakes whch exaggerate the adverse effects of hgh
fbre forages on appette. A good measure of heat stress, the Temperature Humdty
Index, shows mlkng cows n the lowlands of the humd tropcs to be n the “hgh
stress” and “reduced performance” zones for much of most days throughout the
year. Many dary specalsts correctly argue that potentally hgh performance dary
breeds, such as Fresans, may not necessarly be the best cattle genotype for tropcal
regons, except n hghland areas or those wth low humdtes.
There are many soco-economc reasons why the effcency of small holder dary
farmng n Asa has not greatly mproved over the last two decades. Granted, numbers
of cows has greatly ncreased n most Asan countres, largely through government
support for socal welfare and rural development programs. The ncreased demand
for mlk (accentuated through school mlk programs) and the concept of natonal food
securty are the drvng forces behnd most dary development ntatves. However
n terms of feed nputs per kg of mlk produced or farm mlk outputs, mprovements
have been slow. Ths s demonstrated by the nablty of vrtually all dary ndustres
n SE Asan to markedly mprove ther self-suffcences n mlk over the last 10
years (Moran 2009) hence reduce ther relance on mported dary products.
In addton to the above bologcal constrants, the other major problem to
achevng natonal dary development producton targets has unfortunately been a
common human falng, namely an nablty to properly plan for such ntatves,
n the short as well as the long term. Ths paper dscusses ths problem at three
levels, frstly at a regonal dary program level, secondly a “greenfeld” or new farm
development level and thrdly, trouble shootng an exstng dary farm that s not
performng, even to expectatons. Many regonal dary development projects nvolve
the constructon of a seres of medum to large scale dary farms (say from 200 to
1000 mlkng cows) frequently on a “greenfeld” ste or one wth lttle exstng dary
nfrastructure. The thrd level occurs all too often when poor plannng has resulted n
a new or exstng farm that does not acheve realstc producton and proft targets.
The mportance of long term plannng s paramount n any dary development
program. We often hear the comment “Falng to plan s plannng to fal”. Unfortunately ths apples to much of the dary development around tropcal SE Asa.
Plannng dary programs
Regional dairy programs
A common problem wth many regonal dary development programs s the
desre to ntroduce the stock long before the nfrastructure has been fully prepared to
support them. Importng pregnant dary hefers provdes a small wndow of opportunty for ther eventual calvng and mlk producton, but all too often ths wndow s
too small to prepare for ther change to a lactatng cow, requrng optmum feedng
28
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
and herd management to settle nto ther new, often more hostle, envronment.
Fgure 1 lsts ten steps that should be followed n any large scale regonal dary
development program. It s essental to organse markets, mlk processors, physcal
and socal nfrastructure before ntroducng stock. The actual cost of mlk producton cannot be determned untl the stock are on ste and ther actual, rather than ther
predcted, levels of performance and requred nputs can be quantfed.
An addtonal step that overrdes the success of all those n Fgure 1 s a planned
and ongong supply of fnances to ensure each step actually occurs “on tme and
on budget”. Ths requres a long term commtment from fnancers well before the
program starts. Ths budget must ncorporate realstc levels of cow performance
based on local nformaton or estmates and not those from other, generally temperate
and hence less stressful, envronments. The budget obvously needs to ncorporate a
cash flow as well as long term loan repayments and should not plan for any profts
for several years nto the programmed development.
A “greenfield” or new farm development site
Convertng a greenfeld ste nto a proftable and sustanable dary farm also
requres careful plannng. The steps to take are smlar to those n Fgure 1 except
that several of them would be taken for granted. For example, one would assume
that there s an exstng market and mlk processors (Steps 1 and 2) or at least one
that wll defntely develop n tme to utlse the raw mlk from the new farm. Ensurng a sustanable feed supply (Step 3) and sutable staff (both manageral and
general farm staff, Steps 4 and 5) are essental pror to ntroducng the stock.
Step 6, tranng the staff, could be taken for granted as that would have been
ascertaned pror to the project startng. The basc facltes must be constructed before the stock arrve. Of greatest mportance, the assurance of suffcent and tmely
supply of fnances s essental to ensure the project does not stall at any step along
the way.
Probably the most mportant decson that needs to be made for a greenfeld
ste s the proposed stockng capacty, that s the number of mlkng cow unts to
be mantaned per ha of forage producton area. One mlkng cow unt s one adult
cow plus 20% of ts replacement hefer, that s assumng a 20% replacement rate per
annum. The farm should am to supply as much of the annual forage requrements
as possble, to gve the farm management team more control over the supply and
qualty of such forages than f they have to be purchased off farm. The hardest part
of ths decson process s the assumpton of annual growth rates of such forages.
Ths has been dscussed n detal by Moran (2005), who has concluded that to ensure
all forages can be grown on farm, such target stockng capactes should range
from 7 to 10 mlkng cow unts per ha forage producton area. Once ths has been
decded, then a more realstc calculaton can be made of the total tonnages of forage
that need to be purchased. The annual requrements for the other major dary feed,
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
29
namely concentrates (ether formulated or sourced as raw ngredents) also needs to
be ascertaned so that long term sources can be assured early n the project.
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Fgure 1. The ten steps to be followed n any regonal dary development program
Net cash flow means an estmate of farm expenses as well as farm ncome.
The majorty of cash s generated by the sale of mlk. The shape of the lactaton
curve (Moran 2005) means that ths can only be consstent from month to month
wth careful plannng to source dary stock at several tmes durng the early years of
the project, and not all at once. All too often such greenfeld projects fal altogether
or requre major cash flow revson because all the stock were ntroduced at the
same tme.
30
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
Hitting the “white wall”
The above hghlghts a classc scenaro where “new” farmers enjoy a rapdly
ncreasng cash flow when all cows calf down over a short tme frame. The farmer
often then ncreases hs cash nput, sometmes nto lower prorty nvestments,
neglectng the most mportant ones, such as mantanng a hgh qualty (hence
hgh ntake) raton as cows approach md and late lactaton and ensurng optmum
reproductve performance (usng fertle bulls rather than dependng entrely on
artfcal nsemnaton and ensurng all feld staff develop sklls n heat detecton).
Persstency of mlk producton (as quantfed by the average monthly declne n
mlk yeld from peak) s one of the often neglected, key measures of success of a
feedng program. It should be of the order of 8% rather than the all too common
12% or more (Moran 2005).
All too often herd mlk producton rapdly decrease as cows move nto ther
less productve phases of ther lactaton phase, reduced cash flows follow and the
farm’s net ncome declnes to such an extent that t’s long term vablty may be at
rsk. Such scenaros are rarely made publc as natonal prde can be at stake, hence
t s often repeated by new, nexperenced nvestors n dary development.
Trouble shooting an existing dairy farm
Ths can cause the bggest problem because errors n desgn and constructon
of facltes, shortfalls n supples of feeds, partcularly forages, and nadequaces n
managng the stock may have already ntroduced constrants on potental cow and
farm performance. We wll dscuss ths usng a theoretcal case study based on an
actual stuaton.
A 150 mlkng cow free stall barn farm was establshed usng pregnant grade
Fresan hefers, all mported at the same tme, n a hot humd envronment n
tropcal SE Asa. Insuffcent area was allocated to forage producton and very few
staff had had much experence wth tropcal dary farmng. Wthn ts frst 5 months
of operaton, mlkng stock were sufferng from severe weght loss, stock (cows
and calves) were dyng, mlk yelds fell to average only 7 kg/d, cows were not
cyclng post-partum and there were ncreasng new cases of mastts occurrng every
month.
Over the followng 5 months the farm management, wth consultant advce,
were prepared to nvest n a seres of farm mprovements whch had dramatc
benefcal effects of cow and farm performance. Mlk yelds and body condton
ncreased and the cows started cyclng. These farm mprovements ncluded:
• Developng more area for forage producton
• Introducng a mxer wagon to allow for blendng the ngredents and
mechancal feed delvery
• Concentratng on raton formulaton to balance energy, proten and other
nutrent supples
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
31
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introducng a fermentable energy and a rumen degradable proten source
Incorporatng a small amount of rce straw n the det to provde physcally
effectve fbre
Formulatng lower cost ratons to reduce feed costs
Improvng new born calf hygene and colostrum feedng
Routnely Calfornan Mastts Testng cows followed by antbotc treatment
of subclncal mastts cases and cullng chroncally nfested cows
Purchasng bulls for natural matng, rather than plannng to practce artfcal
nsemnaton
Installng a water sprnkler system and coolng fans for better clmate
control
Introducng recordng systems, usng both note books and computer software,
to more closely montor daly management practces
Establshng a computer system to quantfy mlk ncome less feed costs and
the proporton of feed consumed by non-productve stock each day
Sellng off bull calves and cull stock
Intatng regular faecal and blood samplng and vaccnaton protocols for
better dsease management
Usng pregnancy dagnoss and record keepng for better reproductve
management
Importng pregnant stock wth a range of expected calvng dates
Improvng on farm bosecurty
Over a 12 week perod, followng these mproved management practces:
• The number of cows dyng decreased from 5 per week to zero
• Feed ntakes ncreased from 8.4 to 15.0 kg DM/cow/day
• Average mlk yelds ncreased from 6.4 to 13.6 L/cow/day
• Body condton scores mproved from 2.3 to 5.6 unts (out of 8)
• The farm manager sgned the consultant up for a further perod
• The owner was seen more often wth a smle on hs face
Importing dairy stock from overseas
Very rarely, f at all, can dary development programs rely on natural ncreases
of hefers to populate the new regons. Calf mortaltes are just too hgh n most SE
Asan countres. For example, Moran (2011) revewed the publshed data concludng
that a range of 15 to 25% pre-weanng and early post-weanng mortalty rates would
be typcal on many tropcal dary farms, n contrast to the 3 to 5% consdered normal
on well managed dary farms n developed temperate countres. Such hgh mortalty
rates would also be ndcatve of large numbers of survvng calves that have suffered
permanent health problems leadng to reduced lfetme performance. Therefore the
only way to source more dary stock to mprove farm and regonal mlk outputs,
32
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
assumng they can be fed adequately, s through an actve program of mportaton.
Australa and New Zealand seem to be the countres of choce, although Thaland
also has an actve dary hefer export market especally to Malaysa and Vetnam.
When consderng mportatons of dary hefers, there are two major decsons
to be made, namely what genotype s the most sutable and what age should they
be on arrval. Unfortunately all too often, the frst s consdered a “gven” by many
decson makers who plan dary development polces. That s, they must be “black
and whte”! If the dary regon s n the hghlands (say above 800 to 1000 m above
sea level) and or n a regon wthout extremes n temperature and humdty, ths s
often the correct decson. However there seems lttle pont n requestng Fresan
hefers out of dams that have produced 5000 L mlk per lactaton, because t s hghly
unlkely that the mported hefers or ther progeny wll be managed well enough to
acheve such mlk yelds, partcularly f they are to be run on smallholder farms. In
most cases, any dary genotype mported from a developed country s lkely to be of
hgher genetc mert that the typcal mlkng cow n tropcal Asa.
Jerseys or ther crosses should be serously consdered n tropcal dary systems
when clmate constrants are apparent and/or when feedng and herd management s
very much sub optmum. They are smaller, hence have lower mantenance requrements, have better clmatc tolerance (due both to lower mlk yelds and physcal
characterstcs such as sweat gland densty and skn colour) and often better reproductve performance. In areas where premums encourage farmers to produce mlk
wth hgher solds content, Jerseys also outdo Fresans. There are other dary breeds
that seem to perform better than Fresans n the torrd tropcs such as Brown Swss,
or synthetc breeds such as Australan Fresan Sahwals or the Grolanda (from Brazl), whle the purebred Sahwal (from Pakstan) justfes further consderaton.
The other decson to make s whether to mport pregnant hefers or yearlng
(vrgn) hefers. Pregnant hefers are the most favoured because farmers get “two for
the prce of one”, assumng the foetus s a dary genotype. In addton as the hefer
s pregnant (at least dagnosed as pregnant) she does not have to be mated soon on
arrval at her new home where there s no guarantee that she wll easly conceve.
However wth only a few months to adapt to her new envronment, there s also no
guarantee that that hefer wll become a long term member of the mlkng herd once
she calves down. All too often one hears stores of very hgh numbers (up to 30 or
40%) of mported hefers beng culled and slaughtered after havng only one calf.
The most lkely reason s that her poor feedng management post-calvng and her
hgher genetc propensty to utlse body reserves to produce mlk, have combned to
result n anoestrus for many, many months post calvng. Such anmals have become
very expensve dary beef anmals. In the long run, yearlng hefers may be better
economc propostons than pregnant hefers.
Lastly and of equal mportance when mportng dary stock nto tropcal Asa,
are ssues of anmal health. All countres, both mportng and exportng countres
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
33
have dsease management protocols. Such protocols must be strctly enforced and
regularly revewed, n case of new dsease outbreaks n countres of orgn. Foot
and mouth dseases and brucelloss are the two most commonly talked about but
there are others to consder. In one recent example, two dseases, namely bovne
vral darrhoea (BVD) and nfectous bovne rhnotrachets (IBR) were solated n
vrtually every aborted foetuses arsng from one mportaton. These can have long
lastng adverse mpacts on cow performance so requre addtonal survellance to
ensure they do not enter the country wth the consgnment.
Conclusons
Dary farmng would have to be one of the most sophstcated forms of lvestock producton n the world and should only be undertaken after careful and logcal plannng, and wth expectatons of a long term nvestment before profts accrue.
To be successful, such development programs must nvolve sourcng, or at least
seekng support from, personnel wth proven experence n both dary farmng practces and dary farm busness management. Much can be learnt from the ltany of
faled dary development projects throughout tropcal Asa so these mstakes wll
not be repeated, as unfortunately occurs all too often.
References
Moran, J. (2005). Tropcal Dary Farmng. Feedng management for small holder dary farmers n the humd tropcs. Landlnks Press, CSIRO, Melbourne.
http://www.publsh.csro.au/nd/197/ssue/3363.htm
Moran, J. (2009). Busness management for tropcal dary farmers. 280 pp. Landlnks
Press, CSIRO Melbourne. http://www.publsh.csro.au/nd/220/ssue/5522.htm
Moran, J. (2011). Factors affectng hgh mortalty rates of dary replacement calves
and hefers n the tropcs and strateges for ther reducton. Asian Australasian
Journal of Animal Science, 24 (9), 1318-1328.
34
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
J. B. Moran1 & J. W. Brouwer2
1
Profitable Dairy Systems, 24 Wilson St. Kyabram, Victoria 3620 Australia,
Email: jbm95@hotmail.com
2
SkyGlow Enterprises, Lot 825B, Jl Subang 6, 47510 Subang Jaya, Selangor,
Malaysia
Email: skyglow.asia@gmail.com
Abstract
There has been a history of dairy development programs in tropical Asia that
have either failed or required major revisions, for a variety of reasons. There have
been obvious biological factors such as overestimating the level of performance of
milking stock, or underestimating the required farm inputs to achieve targets for
milk production and reproduction. All too often these programs suffer because of
incorrect assumptions on the impact of the tropical environment on cow comfort,
animal health, feed quality or cow appetites. However the most common reason is
the lack of proper planning, both long and short term. This review discusses planning
requirements for three scenarios, namely regional programs, “greenfield” sites and
trouble shooting problems on existing farm developments.
Keywords: dairy development programs, on farm dairy programs, planning
Introducton
The last 20 years of dary research, development and extenson n many
Western countres has produced qute sophstcated dary producton systems.
Herd szes have grown, effcent feedng systems have evolved and many farmers
routnely montor test results on ther cows for mlk producton, composton and
qualty and for mastts. They then use ths nformaton for makng decsons on
cullng mlkng cows and for breedng genetcally mproved stock. Hgh labour costs
have led to much mechansaton, such as machne mlkng, forage conservaton and
feedng stock, whle cows grazng at pasture are able harvest ther own forages more
effcently than can farmers. Low populaton pressures, hence relatvely cheap land,
have allowed farms n Western countres to expand n both sze and cow numbers.
Unfortunately ths has not been the case for small holder dary farmers n most
Asan countres. Beng n the tropcs, feed qualty suffers from hgh temperatures,
humdtes and often strongly seasonal ranfall patterns. Dary cows are temperate
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
27
anmals wth thermo neutral (comfort) zones closer to 10°C than to 30°C. Furthermore,
hgh humdtes reduce feed ntakes whch exaggerate the adverse effects of hgh
fbre forages on appette. A good measure of heat stress, the Temperature Humdty
Index, shows mlkng cows n the lowlands of the humd tropcs to be n the “hgh
stress” and “reduced performance” zones for much of most days throughout the
year. Many dary specalsts correctly argue that potentally hgh performance dary
breeds, such as Fresans, may not necessarly be the best cattle genotype for tropcal
regons, except n hghland areas or those wth low humdtes.
There are many soco-economc reasons why the effcency of small holder dary
farmng n Asa has not greatly mproved over the last two decades. Granted, numbers
of cows has greatly ncreased n most Asan countres, largely through government
support for socal welfare and rural development programs. The ncreased demand
for mlk (accentuated through school mlk programs) and the concept of natonal food
securty are the drvng forces behnd most dary development ntatves. However
n terms of feed nputs per kg of mlk produced or farm mlk outputs, mprovements
have been slow. Ths s demonstrated by the nablty of vrtually all dary ndustres
n SE Asan to markedly mprove ther self-suffcences n mlk over the last 10
years (Moran 2009) hence reduce ther relance on mported dary products.
In addton to the above bologcal constrants, the other major problem to
achevng natonal dary development producton targets has unfortunately been a
common human falng, namely an nablty to properly plan for such ntatves,
n the short as well as the long term. Ths paper dscusses ths problem at three
levels, frstly at a regonal dary program level, secondly a “greenfeld” or new farm
development level and thrdly, trouble shootng an exstng dary farm that s not
performng, even to expectatons. Many regonal dary development projects nvolve
the constructon of a seres of medum to large scale dary farms (say from 200 to
1000 mlkng cows) frequently on a “greenfeld” ste or one wth lttle exstng dary
nfrastructure. The thrd level occurs all too often when poor plannng has resulted n
a new or exstng farm that does not acheve realstc producton and proft targets.
The mportance of long term plannng s paramount n any dary development
program. We often hear the comment “Falng to plan s plannng to fal”. Unfortunately ths apples to much of the dary development around tropcal SE Asa.
Plannng dary programs
Regional dairy programs
A common problem wth many regonal dary development programs s the
desre to ntroduce the stock long before the nfrastructure has been fully prepared to
support them. Importng pregnant dary hefers provdes a small wndow of opportunty for ther eventual calvng and mlk producton, but all too often ths wndow s
too small to prepare for ther change to a lactatng cow, requrng optmum feedng
28
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
and herd management to settle nto ther new, often more hostle, envronment.
Fgure 1 lsts ten steps that should be followed n any large scale regonal dary
development program. It s essental to organse markets, mlk processors, physcal
and socal nfrastructure before ntroducng stock. The actual cost of mlk producton cannot be determned untl the stock are on ste and ther actual, rather than ther
predcted, levels of performance and requred nputs can be quantfed.
An addtonal step that overrdes the success of all those n Fgure 1 s a planned
and ongong supply of fnances to ensure each step actually occurs “on tme and
on budget”. Ths requres a long term commtment from fnancers well before the
program starts. Ths budget must ncorporate realstc levels of cow performance
based on local nformaton or estmates and not those from other, generally temperate
and hence less stressful, envronments. The budget obvously needs to ncorporate a
cash flow as well as long term loan repayments and should not plan for any profts
for several years nto the programmed development.
A “greenfield” or new farm development site
Convertng a greenfeld ste nto a proftable and sustanable dary farm also
requres careful plannng. The steps to take are smlar to those n Fgure 1 except
that several of them would be taken for granted. For example, one would assume
that there s an exstng market and mlk processors (Steps 1 and 2) or at least one
that wll defntely develop n tme to utlse the raw mlk from the new farm. Ensurng a sustanable feed supply (Step 3) and sutable staff (both manageral and
general farm staff, Steps 4 and 5) are essental pror to ntroducng the stock.
Step 6, tranng the staff, could be taken for granted as that would have been
ascertaned pror to the project startng. The basc facltes must be constructed before the stock arrve. Of greatest mportance, the assurance of suffcent and tmely
supply of fnances s essental to ensure the project does not stall at any step along
the way.
Probably the most mportant decson that needs to be made for a greenfeld
ste s the proposed stockng capacty, that s the number of mlkng cow unts to
be mantaned per ha of forage producton area. One mlkng cow unt s one adult
cow plus 20% of ts replacement hefer, that s assumng a 20% replacement rate per
annum. The farm should am to supply as much of the annual forage requrements
as possble, to gve the farm management team more control over the supply and
qualty of such forages than f they have to be purchased off farm. The hardest part
of ths decson process s the assumpton of annual growth rates of such forages.
Ths has been dscussed n detal by Moran (2005), who has concluded that to ensure
all forages can be grown on farm, such target stockng capactes should range
from 7 to 10 mlkng cow unts per ha forage producton area. Once ths has been
decded, then a more realstc calculaton can be made of the total tonnages of forage
that need to be purchased. The annual requrements for the other major dary feed,
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
29
namely concentrates (ether formulated or sourced as raw ngredents) also needs to
be ascertaned so that long term sources can be assured early n the project.
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Fgure 1. The ten steps to be followed n any regonal dary development program
Net cash flow means an estmate of farm expenses as well as farm ncome.
The majorty of cash s generated by the sale of mlk. The shape of the lactaton
curve (Moran 2005) means that ths can only be consstent from month to month
wth careful plannng to source dary stock at several tmes durng the early years of
the project, and not all at once. All too often such greenfeld projects fal altogether
or requre major cash flow revson because all the stock were ntroduced at the
same tme.
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Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
Hitting the “white wall”
The above hghlghts a classc scenaro where “new” farmers enjoy a rapdly
ncreasng cash flow when all cows calf down over a short tme frame. The farmer
often then ncreases hs cash nput, sometmes nto lower prorty nvestments,
neglectng the most mportant ones, such as mantanng a hgh qualty (hence
hgh ntake) raton as cows approach md and late lactaton and ensurng optmum
reproductve performance (usng fertle bulls rather than dependng entrely on
artfcal nsemnaton and ensurng all feld staff develop sklls n heat detecton).
Persstency of mlk producton (as quantfed by the average monthly declne n
mlk yeld from peak) s one of the often neglected, key measures of success of a
feedng program. It should be of the order of 8% rather than the all too common
12% or more (Moran 2005).
All too often herd mlk producton rapdly decrease as cows move nto ther
less productve phases of ther lactaton phase, reduced cash flows follow and the
farm’s net ncome declnes to such an extent that t’s long term vablty may be at
rsk. Such scenaros are rarely made publc as natonal prde can be at stake, hence
t s often repeated by new, nexperenced nvestors n dary development.
Trouble shooting an existing dairy farm
Ths can cause the bggest problem because errors n desgn and constructon
of facltes, shortfalls n supples of feeds, partcularly forages, and nadequaces n
managng the stock may have already ntroduced constrants on potental cow and
farm performance. We wll dscuss ths usng a theoretcal case study based on an
actual stuaton.
A 150 mlkng cow free stall barn farm was establshed usng pregnant grade
Fresan hefers, all mported at the same tme, n a hot humd envronment n
tropcal SE Asa. Insuffcent area was allocated to forage producton and very few
staff had had much experence wth tropcal dary farmng. Wthn ts frst 5 months
of operaton, mlkng stock were sufferng from severe weght loss, stock (cows
and calves) were dyng, mlk yelds fell to average only 7 kg/d, cows were not
cyclng post-partum and there were ncreasng new cases of mastts occurrng every
month.
Over the followng 5 months the farm management, wth consultant advce,
were prepared to nvest n a seres of farm mprovements whch had dramatc
benefcal effects of cow and farm performance. Mlk yelds and body condton
ncreased and the cows started cyclng. These farm mprovements ncluded:
• Developng more area for forage producton
• Introducng a mxer wagon to allow for blendng the ngredents and
mechancal feed delvery
• Concentratng on raton formulaton to balance energy, proten and other
nutrent supples
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
31
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introducng a fermentable energy and a rumen degradable proten source
Incorporatng a small amount of rce straw n the det to provde physcally
effectve fbre
Formulatng lower cost ratons to reduce feed costs
Improvng new born calf hygene and colostrum feedng
Routnely Calfornan Mastts Testng cows followed by antbotc treatment
of subclncal mastts cases and cullng chroncally nfested cows
Purchasng bulls for natural matng, rather than plannng to practce artfcal
nsemnaton
Installng a water sprnkler system and coolng fans for better clmate
control
Introducng recordng systems, usng both note books and computer software,
to more closely montor daly management practces
Establshng a computer system to quantfy mlk ncome less feed costs and
the proporton of feed consumed by non-productve stock each day
Sellng off bull calves and cull stock
Intatng regular faecal and blood samplng and vaccnaton protocols for
better dsease management
Usng pregnancy dagnoss and record keepng for better reproductve
management
Importng pregnant stock wth a range of expected calvng dates
Improvng on farm bosecurty
Over a 12 week perod, followng these mproved management practces:
• The number of cows dyng decreased from 5 per week to zero
• Feed ntakes ncreased from 8.4 to 15.0 kg DM/cow/day
• Average mlk yelds ncreased from 6.4 to 13.6 L/cow/day
• Body condton scores mproved from 2.3 to 5.6 unts (out of 8)
• The farm manager sgned the consultant up for a further perod
• The owner was seen more often wth a smle on hs face
Importing dairy stock from overseas
Very rarely, f at all, can dary development programs rely on natural ncreases
of hefers to populate the new regons. Calf mortaltes are just too hgh n most SE
Asan countres. For example, Moran (2011) revewed the publshed data concludng
that a range of 15 to 25% pre-weanng and early post-weanng mortalty rates would
be typcal on many tropcal dary farms, n contrast to the 3 to 5% consdered normal
on well managed dary farms n developed temperate countres. Such hgh mortalty
rates would also be ndcatve of large numbers of survvng calves that have suffered
permanent health problems leadng to reduced lfetme performance. Therefore the
only way to source more dary stock to mprove farm and regonal mlk outputs,
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Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
assumng they can be fed adequately, s through an actve program of mportaton.
Australa and New Zealand seem to be the countres of choce, although Thaland
also has an actve dary hefer export market especally to Malaysa and Vetnam.
When consderng mportatons of dary hefers, there are two major decsons
to be made, namely what genotype s the most sutable and what age should they
be on arrval. Unfortunately all too often, the frst s consdered a “gven” by many
decson makers who plan dary development polces. That s, they must be “black
and whte”! If the dary regon s n the hghlands (say above 800 to 1000 m above
sea level) and or n a regon wthout extremes n temperature and humdty, ths s
often the correct decson. However there seems lttle pont n requestng Fresan
hefers out of dams that have produced 5000 L mlk per lactaton, because t s hghly
unlkely that the mported hefers or ther progeny wll be managed well enough to
acheve such mlk yelds, partcularly f they are to be run on smallholder farms. In
most cases, any dary genotype mported from a developed country s lkely to be of
hgher genetc mert that the typcal mlkng cow n tropcal Asa.
Jerseys or ther crosses should be serously consdered n tropcal dary systems
when clmate constrants are apparent and/or when feedng and herd management s
very much sub optmum. They are smaller, hence have lower mantenance requrements, have better clmatc tolerance (due both to lower mlk yelds and physcal
characterstcs such as sweat gland densty and skn colour) and often better reproductve performance. In areas where premums encourage farmers to produce mlk
wth hgher solds content, Jerseys also outdo Fresans. There are other dary breeds
that seem to perform better than Fresans n the torrd tropcs such as Brown Swss,
or synthetc breeds such as Australan Fresan Sahwals or the Grolanda (from Brazl), whle the purebred Sahwal (from Pakstan) justfes further consderaton.
The other decson to make s whether to mport pregnant hefers or yearlng
(vrgn) hefers. Pregnant hefers are the most favoured because farmers get “two for
the prce of one”, assumng the foetus s a dary genotype. In addton as the hefer
s pregnant (at least dagnosed as pregnant) she does not have to be mated soon on
arrval at her new home where there s no guarantee that she wll easly conceve.
However wth only a few months to adapt to her new envronment, there s also no
guarantee that that hefer wll become a long term member of the mlkng herd once
she calves down. All too often one hears stores of very hgh numbers (up to 30 or
40%) of mported hefers beng culled and slaughtered after havng only one calf.
The most lkely reason s that her poor feedng management post-calvng and her
hgher genetc propensty to utlse body reserves to produce mlk, have combned to
result n anoestrus for many, many months post calvng. Such anmals have become
very expensve dary beef anmals. In the long run, yearlng hefers may be better
economc propostons than pregnant hefers.
Lastly and of equal mportance when mportng dary stock nto tropcal Asa,
are ssues of anmal health. All countres, both mportng and exportng countres
Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012
33
have dsease management protocols. Such protocols must be strctly enforced and
regularly revewed, n case of new dsease outbreaks n countres of orgn. Foot
and mouth dseases and brucelloss are the two most commonly talked about but
there are others to consder. In one recent example, two dseases, namely bovne
vral darrhoea (BVD) and nfectous bovne rhnotrachets (IBR) were solated n
vrtually every aborted foetuses arsng from one mportaton. These can have long
lastng adverse mpacts on cow performance so requre addtonal survellance to
ensure they do not enter the country wth the consgnment.
Conclusons
Dary farmng would have to be one of the most sophstcated forms of lvestock producton n the world and should only be undertaken after careful and logcal plannng, and wth expectatons of a long term nvestment before profts accrue.
To be successful, such development programs must nvolve sourcng, or at least
seekng support from, personnel wth proven experence n both dary farmng practces and dary farm busness management. Much can be learnt from the ltany of
faled dary development projects throughout tropcal Asa so these mstakes wll
not be repeated, as unfortunately occurs all too often.
References
Moran, J. (2005). Tropcal Dary Farmng. Feedng management for small holder dary farmers n the humd tropcs. Landlnks Press, CSIRO, Melbourne.
http://www.publsh.csro.au/nd/197/ssue/3363.htm
Moran, J. (2009). Busness management for tropcal dary farmers. 280 pp. Landlnks
Press, CSIRO Melbourne. http://www.publsh.csro.au/nd/220/ssue/5522.htm
Moran, J. (2011). Factors affectng hgh mortalty rates of dary replacement calves
and hefers n the tropcs and strateges for ther reducton. Asian Australasian
Journal of Animal Science, 24 (9), 1318-1328.
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Proceeding of the 2nd International Seminar on Animal Industry | Jakarta, 5-6 July 2012