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Declining fertility in dairy cows: €7.4 million grant for research

Published on: 11/20/2007

Source : Innovations Report

The greatest problem facing the dairy industry today, at primary production level, is the continuing decline in cow fertility. Low fertility leads to reduced milk yields, increased labour and veterinary costs, increased culling of cows due to failure to become pregnant and the resultant loss of income to dairy farmers.It is also implicated in the decreasing competitiveness of the Irish dairy indus...

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Helga Dietrich

Durbanville, Cape Province, South Africa

Biologist

Organic Farm & garden Supplies

Re: News: Declining fertility in dairy cows: €7.4 million grant for research

11/21/2007 | Here we go again - more and more medicines will be put in these poor animals just so that the milk productions per animal plus ongoing fertility not be disturbed.

Has ever anyone thought that the problems discussed in this article are possibly due to the unnatural high milk production - that this might be natures answer.

These veterinary medicine companies only care about the animals as long as they are their customers. It is time for the farmers to understand that as more natural you keep your animals as better they will perform. A healthy cow is a very valuable animal - it should live and produce as long as possible without it being forced into unrealistically high production quota - milk or off-spring. An animal worn out like this must react negatively, his life time is shortened, it might abort many times, it is stuffed with all kinds of chemicals which we the consumer will also be fed with. This is definitely not sustainability. Sustainability means working with nature and not against it.

And not to forget - the calves coming from these animals are much weaker than calves from not so chemically infested mothers. But good for the chemical industry - these calves will need ongoing medical treatment for the rest of their lifes - this is business planning at its best.

Most of these medicines and supplements are during their production and packaging and transporting process sure not contributing to the planets biggest goal at these times - namely to reduce global warming.

Methane gass is one of the gasses rising up into our skies we need to reduce.

Cattle produce due to their intestinal structure and maybe in addition due to the not always natural feed (good grazing and in winter good hay) enormous amounts of these gasses. The intestines are purely anaerobe with lots of pathogens - but one change this. There is a product of which you need 50 g per ton of feed or 3 g per day per cow which will cleanse out the intestines becoming more aerob and thus producing lesser methane - plus the animals after a short while are in much better shape. If anyone is interested you can contact me.
But that is not why I wrote this comment - it is because we have lost our connection to nature, we dont hear and see anymore what our grand fathers have still seen and heard. We close our eyes to the animals and our environments needs and only listen to the well trained (in sales) representatives of the mentioned and other companies.

The time will come where we will pay the price for being deaf and blind to nature - it is already on its way. One must keep one thing in mind - whatever we try we can never win against nature. We can destroy our planet - who lost then? We or nature - of course we because nature has millions of years time to re-establish itself again but we don not have that time. Think about this and react.

I would love to hear from you. Regards,

HD

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Dr. Giridhar Shende

India

Re: News: Declining fertility in dairy cows: €7.4 million grant for research

07/03/2008 | I am Dr. G. P. Shende working as Assistant Professor at Nagpur Veterinary College, Nagpur. I am going to work on role of livestock in global warming & its effect on livestock production & how to reduce heat stress on livestock. I need your help regarding how to conduct the study on the topic cited above, what parameters should be taken etc. Please reply on my E mail ID.
With regards, and thanking you.

Dr. G. P. Shende
Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Livestock Production & Management,
Nagpur Veterinary College, Nagpur

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