Optimism Expressed For Philippines' Livestock Sector

PHILIPPINES - The Department for Agriculture (DA) sees bright prospects for the country's livestock industries.

With continuing support from the government for demand-driven programmes, the DA expects bright prospects for the livestock industry this year and beyond owing to its vast export potentials, an increasing demand in the local market for its products, and the entry of new players to further invigorate the domestic industry. More . . .

Veterinarian helped control threat of cattle plague

Dr. Walter Plowright, the British veterinarian who developed an inexpensive vaccine that contributed to global efforts to wipe out a disease responsible for millions of cattle deaths, died Feb. 19. He was 86.

In 1999, Dr. Plowright became the first veterinarian named as a World Food Prize Laureate, an honor given because of the impact of his rinderpest vaccine. The prize is awarded to individuals for outstanding achievements that improve the quality, quantity, or availability of food.

Officials with the Food and Agri-culture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO, credit Dr. Plowright with greatly helping to eradicate rinderpest by developing the vaccine during his time in Kenya in the 1950s. The organization nominated him for the World Food Prize. More

Image source from here.

Meet the Super Cow

They call it the Belgian Blue . . .


Video courtesy of YouTube and National Geographic Channel

Dairy Cattle Management in a Hot Environment

I have my temperature widget on my desktop and noticed that it's getting hotter and hotter every day. Temperature would range from 30 to 35 degrees centigrade on a daily basis and this affects dairy cattle management or backyard cattle raising.   

Hot environments affect the performance of dairy cattle both directly and indirectly. To attain the fullest genetic performance, environmental conditions and diets should be modified. Thermal factors consist of air temperature, humidity, air movement, and radiation rate. In lactating Holstein cows, the comfortable temperature is within the range 4-24oC (Hahn 1981). The effects of heat stress on the cows begin to be observed above 24oC, and milk yield decreases markedly above 27oC (Johnson 1965).

A decline in milk yield, fertility, and growth rate in hot environments is closely related to an increase in body temperature (BT). BT results from the balance between heat production (HP) and heat loss (HL). Since humidity affects the HL from an animal under high temperature conditions, dairy cattle performance falls markedly in hot, humid summers. Moreover, HP is associated with feed intake level, which in turn affects the production level. In high-producing cows, the HP is higher, and the effect of a hot environment is more pronounced. More.

Image source here.