Dairy Global edition 1: From Eurotier to Russia

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EuroTier innovations: Progressing the dairy sector

The EuroTier 2021 Innovation Awards have been announced, with 1 gold and 7 silver medals awarded. Hanskamp AgroTech BV scooped gold for the dairy sector innovation. Here we pick some innovations to look out for. The biennial animal husbandry show was held online-only due to Covid-19 and took place 9–12 February 2021. Page 8

The Calf Monitoring System from Futuro Farming GmbH, Regensburg scooped the Animal Welfare Award at Eurotier 2021. Photo: Futuro Farming GmbH.

Turkish farms harmed by fluctuating currency

One of the current main challenges for dairy farmers in Turkey is the fluctuating value of the local lira currency, which has bumped up input costs and forced some farms into bankruptcy. Page 12

Emre Gurdal runs Gurdal family farm, Aydin Province farm on 300 hectares of land with his father Arif. Photo: Chris McCullough

Tackling mastitis the right way

Mastitis is considered to be one of the most costly dairy cattle diseases, making it highly relevant to dairy farmers. The economic impact of poor udder health cannot be underestimated. Page 14

Promoting udder and teat integrity goes a long way towards reducing the risk of infection. Photo: Alltech

Mixing grass seeds for maximum forage intake

Dairy farmers know very well that fresh grass is the cheapest form of feed needed for their cows to produce quality milk at a profit. However, cows can be quite fussy eaters, and farmers need to ensure they make the right choices when picking grass seed varieties and mixes. Page 16

Cows can be picky eaters indeed. This taste preference can be boiled down to the choice of grass variety used to seed the field. Photo: Chris McCullough

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Mastitis: How can data help in making the right decisions?

“Big data” is a concept that dairy farms can use to improve their decision making. Lorena Nodar, an expert on ruminant health and data analysis at HIPRA, explores this and the importance it has for preventing bovine mastitis. Lorena Nodar, an expert on ruminant health and data analysis at HIPRA, explores this and the importance it has for preventing bovine mastitis. Page 18

Seasonality is a factor that causes variations in parameters such as milk production, SCC and clinical mastitis, says Lorena Nodar, a veterinarian specialising in data analysis and udder health at HIPRA. Photo: HIPRA

Reducing mastitis during the dry period

How to approach mastitis control? A recent Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) webinar shed some light on reducing mastitis during the dry period particularly. Page 19

Selecting for low emission cows

Methane emission is a heritable trait, which makes selection for lower emitting animals possible. Recent research with Danish Holstein dairy cattle shows the impact of a multi-trait approach to achieve high selection accuracy of lower methane-emitting animals. Page 20

Exploring the benefits of perennial legumes

The perennial legumes lucerne, red clover and white clover tend to increase nutritive value and milk production response of grass-based diets. That is an outcome of research by the 3030 Project, an initiative of Dairy Australia. Page 24

Even after severe droughts, white clover has the capacity to reappear from seeds on the ground. Photo: Crystal Jo

How the dairy market in Russia is developing

During 2020, the dairy market in Russia further progressed in breaking the drawdown that has dominated the sector for 6 years since the embargo announcement in 2014. The embargo cut the dairy market by about 45% in value and reduced the number of imported products by half. Page 28

Russia’s strategy to tackle mastitis and antibiotics

Russia is looking for new ways to deal with mastitis as the country is increasingly looking to curb veterinarians’ use of antibiotics. It is also looking into designing novel types of bacteriophages. Page 30

Backyard farms frequently encounter mastitis. Photo: Vladimir Kubansky

Influencing rumen microbes improves nitrogen efficiency

Feed additives can increase nitrogen efficiency and decrease NH3 emissions. Proper rumen function, the right protein–energy balance in the rumen and more intestinal digestible protein can also help. Page 32

Dairy farmer Henk van der Veen from Surhuizum uses slow-release urea and Protispar by Speerstra Feed Ingredients. This is 30% cheaper than additional rapeseed. He notices a slight increase in the levels. Photos: Anne van der Woude

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