Dairy Farming

This study is a case study of the dairy sector in the West Bank. It is based on qualitative field research and an extensive literature review. By asking how dairy farmers and dairy factory owners in the Hebron governorate perceive opportunities for and constraints to the expansion of their holdings, it analyses them in light of occupation policies and their implications for economic autonomy in the occupied Palestinian territories. On an empirical level, it concludes that intensive dairy cattle farms are better suited to land and water constraints than other forms of agriculture. On a theoretical level, it finds that Israeli neglect
of bilateral agreements and ‘casual constraints’ preclude Palestinian economic autonomy, indicating the latter’s interdependence with the achievement of national sovereignty.

This study determined to find the critical factors that affect the accessibility of credit by small scale dairy farmers in Trans Nzoia County of Kenya. A survey study design was used and the study purposively selected a sample size of 100 dairy farmers who were randomly selected. Main data collection tools used was close-ended questionnaires. The data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics and then presented using tables, pie charts and graphs. The study findings depict a clear significance of this study in determining factors that affect borrowing characteristics of small scale dairy farmers in the county. Although an estimated 93% of the farmers engage in dairy farming for income purposes, only 25% earn 50% and above of their income from it. A multiple regression analysis to predict on factors affecting accessibility of credit depicted a statistically significantly value of, F (6,164) = 1.384, p < .0005, R2 = 0.048. All the variables had statistically significantly to th...

Internet of things (IoT) and data-driven techniques are producing greater prospects for smart dairying. The demand for milk is unceasingly increasing because of rising population of the globe. The employment of the dairy products is more in developed countries as compared to developing countries. To fulfill this increased demand for milk products, better technological techniques for improving milk yield are required. It's foreseeable that the use of IoT and different AI techniques can lend a hand a farmer to beat different conventional farming challenges and increase the milk production. During this research, the authors give a talk different challenges that a dairy farmer has to countenance in way of life. Brief introduction of smart dairying (SDF) is presented with relevancy the modernization in production and therefor the processes of smart dairy farming. This review concentrations on different facets of smart dairying, and at last a state-of-the-art framework that can aid the farmers to extend the milk yield by using different up-to-the-minute technologies has been proposed. These high-tech methods can reduce the factors negatively upsetting milk production and increase those positively heartrending production with trifling resources.

Trong những năm gần đây kinh tế Việt Nam tăng trưởng ổn định bình quân 7% mỗi năm và mức sống của cư dân tăng lên đã ảnh hưởng tích cực đến ngành công nghiệp sữa Việt Nam. Với nhu cầu sữa tăng rất nhanh trong vài năm gần đây chính là động lực để hộ nông dân chăn nuôi bò sữa và các doanh nghiệp sữa đầu tư phát triển, tăng đàn và tăng sản lượng sữa tươi hàng năm bình quân 10-15%. Tuy nhiên, ngành công nghiệp sữa Việt Nam đang đứng trước nhiều thách thức trong quá trình hội nhập quốc tế bởi vì ngành chăn nuôi bò sữa trong nước chỉ mới cung cấp được khoảng 25-30% nhu cầu sữa nội địa, chất lượng sữa và an toàn thực phẩm chưa đảm bảo do kỹ thuật chăn nuôi và quản trị trang trại chưa đồng bộ và còn nhiều bất cập, chuỗi cung ứng sữa chưa hoàn thiện và công bằng giữa các tác nhân tham gia trong chuỗi, chi phí sản xuất sữa ngày càng tăng cao ở hộ chăn nuôi quy mô nhỏ, năng suất sữa còn thấp so với các quốc gia có ngành sản xuất sữa phát triển trên thế giới và trong khu vực, lợi nhuận của hộ chăn nuôi bò sữa quy mô nhỏ và vừa ngày càng giảm và nguy cơ thua lỗ khá cao có thể dẫn đến phá sản những hộ chăn nuôi nhỏ nếu hiệp định thương mại xuyên Thái Bình Dương (TPP) được ký kết và sữa ngoại nhập sẽ tràn ngập thị trường Việt Nam với giá cả rất cạnh tranh. Giá sữa tiêu dùng ở Việt Nam vẫn đang ở mức cao nhất thế giới và doanh nghiệp hoàn toàn lệ thuộc vào nguồn sữa nguyên liệu cũng như các các sản phẩm chế biến từ sữa của nước ngoài như New Zealand, Australia, Netherland, Pháp, Mỹ v.v… Trước tình hình đó, việc tìm ra một hướng đi phù hợp cho ngành công nghiệp sữa Việt Nam là điều cấp thiết từ các khía cạnh kỹ thuật-công nghệ-quản trị cho đến kênh phân phối và chuỗi giá trị sữa, đặc biệt là khía cạnh kinh tế nhằm nâng cao lợi thế cạnh tranh và phát triển bền vững ngành sữa Việt Nam trong những thập niên tới. 2. Cung và cầu sữa ở Việt Nam-Theo Hiệp hội Sữa Việt Nam (Vietnamese Milk Association-VMA), mỗi năm người dân Việt Nam tiêu thụ bình quân khoảng 2 tỉ lít sữa. Nhu cầu tiêu thụ sữa tăng khoảng 61% trong thời gian 5 năm gần đây, từ 500 triệu lít (năm 1 Tiến sĩ Kinh tế. Nghiên cứu viên chính. Giảng viên chuyên ngành Marketing.

Dairy farming has crucial importance for Pakistani economy in terms of providing healthy nutrition for millions of people in urban areas and a viable occupation for rural households trying to make life out of farming activities. Data were collected by administering face to face interviews to a sample of 82 dairy farms selected by the proportionate allocated technique from the Faisalabad district. Owning more improved breeds of buffaloes and cows, growing their own fodder crops, and selling their milk and dairy products in reasonable prices will probably make significant contributions to dairy farms to get better off and enjoy a sustainable rural life. On the other hand, Fodder availability over the years, Traditional Pattern of Feeding the animals, Reproductive Failure, vaccine availability and quality, Expensive Inputs, Poor Knowledge of concentrate Preparation, Traditional Practices in Disease Control, and availability of Veterinary doctor etc. had been observed in study area. The control on these problems can accelerate the production which provides better opportunities for urban households to consume more milk and dairy products. Results showed that average farm size is quite small and dairy farms face difficulties to increase their herds because of limited input sources and external credit opportunities. The active role of government and education and training program are the recommended solutions to overcome these problems.

The fast changing dietary habits, increasing income and rapid urbanization due to the demographic and economic expansion of cities through migration and industrial-ization will further proportionately accelerate the peri-urban population and the demand for the higher quantity of quality milk and food security of urban population may be come the great question in coming decades. So, the present study was conducted in the peri-urban area of Bengaluru. The studies revealed that Bengaluru urban and rural districts show positive growth rate on cross breed animal population. This shows that dairy farming is one of the important livelihood activity in the peri-urban area of Bengaluru. So, this needs a special attention in understanding the farmers' current working conditions of dairy farming for appropriate technological interventions and extension approaches for augmenting dairy production in peri-urban regions.

The study was conducted to explore the experiences of dairy farmers in Kamrup (Metro), Assam, India, with the particular focus on livelihood sustenance and upliftment of dairy farmers in the lockdown period. The results obtained from a sample of 100 dairy farmers indicated that a significant number of dairy farmers were satisfied with the evolution of a lucrative direct selling channel during the lockdown which guarantees higher profits. Surveyed reports showed that cost of fodder, availability of manpower and veterinary services are the most important dilemma for the farmers followed by adoption of unscientific techniques in farming for households income.

This review focus on the various constrain faced by dairy farmers in different states of India. Majority of the authors in northern states observed that lack of green fodder, high feed cost, poor AI were major constrains. Eastern states which are mostly have adverse climatic condition authors of these region observe constrain like lack of green fodder, problems of infertility in cattle, non-availability of artificial insemination (AI) centres, high cost of medicine. Northeastern region are mostly hilly region, dairy farmers over their observed low price of milk, lack in availability of green fodder, repeat breeding and improper treatment services were major constrain. Central states which include largest state of India dairy farmers there faced problems like low price of milk, farmers do not have superior animals, low producing local cows, poor quality feed and fodders. Similarly in west states poor irrigation facilities, time veterinary services and inadequate knowledge of diseases were major constrains. High cost of dairy animals, fodder and concentrate, poor conception rate of AI and high cost of labour and veterinary service were majorly faced constrain in Southern states.

Exergy analyses of multi-generational micro gas turbine systems are reported for a grid-independent dairy farm in Ontario, Canada, with an aim of being environmentally benign. Onsite anaerobic digesters utilize farm waste to produce carbon neutral biogas for combustion in the micro gas turbine modules. A range of micro gas turbines coupled with absorption refrigeration units and an organic Rankine cycle are driven by the recovered waste heat to meet the cooling and electrical needs of farm sizes between 250 and 6000 cows. Exergy balances are applied to each component as well the overall system configuration, and exergy efficiencies are obtained. Small farm sizes with one absorption cooling unit are found to be more exergy efficient than large farm sizes with more than one absorption cooling unit, but the difference is less than 0.5%. Most of exergy destruction within the micro gas turbine module occurs in the combustion chamber, which contributes 79% of the exergy destruction of the system. Farm sizes between 250 and 6000 cows are observed to be capable of having their cooling and electricity needs met with micro gas turbines ranging in capacity from 100 to 1000 kW output, while exhibiting similar exergy efficiencies.

Treatment ponds have been used on dairy farms in the Waikato Region New Zealand to either treat the effluent and discharge into waterways or to irrigate onto pasture. This study assessed leakage from several treatment ponds and causes for it.

Robotic or automatic milking systems (AMS) are novel technologies that take over the labor of dairy farming and reduce the need for human–animal interactions. Because robotic milking involves the replacement of ‘conventional’ twice-a-day milking managed by people with a system that supposedly allows cows the freedom to be milked automatically whenever they choose, some claim robotic milking has health and welfare benefits for cows, increases productivity, and has lifestyle advantages for dairy farmers. This paper examines how established ethical relations on dairy farms are unsettled by the intervention of a radically different technology such as AMS. The renegotiation of ethical relationships is thus an important dimension of how the actors involved are re-assembled around a new technology. The paper draws on in-depth research on UK dairy farms comparing those using conventional milking technologies with those using AMS. We explore the situated ethical relations that are negotiated in practice, focusing on the contingent and complex nature of human–animal–technology interactions. We show that ethical relations are situated and emergent, and that as the identities, roles, and subjectivities of humans and animals are unsettled through the intervention of a new technology, the ethical relations also shift.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate and quantify the different factors affecting the costs of mastitis in cattle, to quantify the annual and monthly financial losses attributed to mastitis, and to estimate production losses using average linear scores found on The Dairy Herd Improvement Association somatic cell count (SCC) sheets and bulk tank SCC per lactation number. Materials and Methods: All data (bovine mastitis-associated costs and expenditures in Egyptian dairy herds) were analyzed using SPSS/PCT, 2001. A partial budget technique using spreadsheet software and the general linear model procedure was used to analyze the productive and financial measures. Results: Mastitis was present in 57.1% of cows (240/420), while clinical mastitis (CM) was present in 19% of them (80/420). The geometric mean of SCC/ml in bulk tank milk samples of 150 cattle dairy farms was 556.3×103. The annual subclinical mastitis (SCM)-related economic loss was 21,933,258.6 LE, and the two most important cos...

The well-known deregulation of New Zealand agriculture prompted the growth of dairy farming, particularly in the region of Southland. The formation of the giant cooperative Fonterra only exacerbated the conversion of sheep farms into dairy farms that challenged both farmers’ and the region’s traditional identity as a sheep country. Interviews with converted farmers show that farming families convert to dairy primarily in an attempt to preserve what is important for them: farm succession and a professional identity. At the community level, conversions to dairy prompted economic revival and a reversal of population loss. This article engages the literature on resilience and rural communities to explore Southland’s adaptation to new economic and farming realities while exploring potential shocks in the future around financialization and environmental well-being.

Mr. Dipak Arvindbhai Bhatt is the son of a marginal farmer, who was compelled to join family business 25 years back in 1994 due to ill health of his father at the cost of his studies. He was concerned about the bread and butter for the family as his business was quite debt drowning. When he joined the business, there was a debt of 1.2 million rupees against the assets of only four cattle and 8 acre (20 bigha) land. But his focused, flexible, and determinant attitude took his business up to a 20 million rupees venture along with 40 cattle and 65 acre (162 bigha) land. This case attempts to demonstrate the traits of entrepreneur, importance of marketing, and development of new market for milk products.

This study was set to determine the critical factors that affect the accessibility of credit by small-scale dairy farmers in Trans Nzoia County of Kenya. This was through the establishment of factors influencing small scale dairy farmer’s decision in seeking credit services, evaluation of how collateral security requirements and lending procedures offered by financial institutions affects borrowing characteristics of small-scale dairy farmers in the county. A survey study design was used. The study purposively selected a sample size of 100 dairy farmers who were randomly selected. One region out of seven regions as per KDB geographical spread was selected and one factory from the region. Then 100 dairy farmers registered at the KCC factory were chosen randomly. The stratum was based on the sizes of dairy farms of the respondent. Twenty credit providers were selected using the list of Banks licensed to operate in Kenya and the SACCO‘s that provide credit to the small scale dairy farmers as per records available at KDB. Main data collection tools used were close-ended questionnaires. The data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics. The study findings depict a clear significance of this study in determining factors that affect  borrowing characteristics of small-scale dairy farmers in the county. Although an estimated 93% of the farmers engage in dairy farming for income purposes, only 25% earn 50% and above of their income from it. A multiple regression analysis to predict on factors affecting accessibility of credit depicted a statistically significantly value of, F (6,164) = 1.384, p < .0005, R2 =0.048. All the variables were statistically significantly to the prediction variable, p < 0.05 apart from Account History variable which had a missing correlation. However, main factors that are highly linked to poor borrowing characteristics of this small scale dairy farmers include; Poor financial status, poor understanding of lending procedures and terms issued by financial institutions and lack of high-value collateral to guarantee them a high borrowing capacity. The study also depicts low market value of milk products as a reason behind the poor financial status of these farmers hence hindering their capacity to easily access credit services. There is a great significance of factors affecting credit accessibility by the small-scale dairy farmers in the area hence the need for prompt interventions. The study recommends solutions to the highlighted factors including enlightening these dairy farmers on the importance of accessing and utilizing credit services with an aim of improving their dairy farming capacity just like their counters who practice large scale. There is also need to improve infrastructure especially the roads and ICT so as to reach more farmers in remote areas. A ready expo-market should be created for milk out of the county. This shall enhance demand increase for dairy  products, hence enabling farmers to see the need to seek credit services. This is because the financial institution shall have the confidence of issuing loans to these farmers.

This report shows how farmers and regulators understand the purpose of record-keeping in different ways that reflect their competing understandings of ‘good’ animal husbandry practice. While farmers understand record-keeping to be about satisfying external accountability demands from government and private assurance schemes, regulatory guidance assumes that farmers are keeping records to inform their own farm planning and animal husbandry. Whereas regulators have assumed that records drive animal welfare practice, farmers see farm work and paperwork as two different things. For them care comes first, and records follow on afterwards to satisfy external demands for assurance. These conflicting assumptions about record-keeping and good animal husbandry explain the tendency for on-farm animal care practice to become de-coupled from the legally required records scrutinised by inspectors when they assess regulatory compliance.
In keeping with the open-policy making agenda, the report closes with four specific suggestions for policy to better align farm practice with regulation including a closer understanding of farming cultures, a bottom-up strategy to design effective records, an assessment of inspection styles and indicators, and an attention to the format and materiality of animal welfare records.

During the last hundred years, mechanization has significantly changed the working circumstances of both humans and animals in cattle husbandry. In Finland, cattle tending was regarded as women’s work up until the mid-20th century. According to a common view, the proliferation of milking machines, starting from the 1950s, caused men to start working in the cowsheds. In this paper, I will examine how the agencies of cattle tenders, cows, and milking machines were constructed during the mechanization process from the 1950s to the 1970s. Special attention will be paid to gendered representations, and changes in the gendered division of work. The main materials used in the study consist of answers received to two ethnographic questionnaires, organized in 1969 and 1992, which dealt with the mechanizing and changing agriculture. The focus is on the questions concerning the introduction of the milking machine, which were included in both questionnaires. In addition, two contemporary machin...

Background and Aim: Data about dynamics of serum biochemical parameters and negative energy balance (NEB) related conditions differ among geographical areas or farm types. It should be cautious about applying those data to justify control and prevention strategies of NEB problems. Therefore, dynamics of blood biochemical parameters related to NEB condition of peripartum dairy cows raised in either smallholder (SH) or semi-commercial (SC) farms were studied.

Materials and Methods: Thirty-two healthy pregnant dry cows were selected from five dairy farms in Western part of Thailand, including 15 and 17 cows from three SH and two SC farms, respectively. Blood samples were collected at 2 weeks before the expected calving date, and 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks postpartum to determine concentrations of glucose, non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), and β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA). Body condition scores (BCSs) and milk yields were also recorded.

Results: Dairy cows in both farm types suffered from NEB by elevation of serum NEFA and BHBA, and loss of BCS postpartum. Degrees of elevation in serum NEFA and BHBA were different between farm types. The SC cows showed more BCS loss postpartum, but lower serum NEFA. In the SH cows, even with less BCS loss, the cows showed high serum NEFA concentrations.

Conclusion: Dairy cows in our study entered NEB condition even with low milk yields. Moreover, elevation of serum NEFA and BHBA postpartum was higher in our studied cows as compared with other studies in high producing cows of commercial dairy farms in temperate areas.

During the last hundred years, mechanization has significantly changed the working circumstances of both humans and animals in cattle husbandry. In Finland, cattle tending was regarded as women’s work up until the mid-20th century. According to a common view, the proliferation of milking machines, starting from the 1950s, caused men to start working in the cowsheds. In this paper, I will examine how the agencies of cattle tenders, cows, and milking machines were constructed during the mechanization process from the 1950s to the 1970s. Special attention will be paid to gendered representations, and changes in the gendered division of work. The main materials used in the study consist of answers received to two ethnographic questionnaires, organized in 1969 and 1992, which dealt with the mechanizing and changing agriculture. The focus is on the questions concerning the introduction of the milking machine, which were included in both questionnaires. In addition, two contemporary machine milking guidebooks will be examined. In accordance with new materialist theories and cultural studies of technology, meanings attached to gender, technology, and animals are seen as relational and intertwined. The article foregrounds agencies that are usually invisible in animal husbandry, and argues that cows participated in the domestication of milking machine technology along with humans.

Intensification of agricultural practices is occurring in Canterbury. Dairy farm conversions continue with land use increasing 132% since 1995. Current concerns emanate predominantly from issues of water quantity and quality, in particular the degradation of lowland streams. These and other costs are not transmitted through markets for dairy products, these negative externalities represent allocation and equity concerns for regional policy makers. This study canvassed regional policy administrators, assembled available valuation studies and performed rudimentary calculations based on reviewed New Zealand literature to form an estimate of the external costs of dairy farming in Canterbury. External costs are estimated at $28.7 to $45 million annually. Using 146,000 hectares of dairy in Canterbury, external costs per hectare is calculated at $196.59 to $308.23. Damage to air resources from CO2 equivalent emissions is the largest category and is estimated to be $24.2 to $40.4 million pe...

All companies in agribusiness supply chains need to be aware of the best use of available resources, which demands an integrated assessment of environmental, economic and social aspects, i.e., the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). Such analysis allows us to get a more balanced and complete understanding of the real performance of companies, supply chains and industries. Companies in the upstream of agribusinesses supply chains present some limitations, but can contribute significantly to the overall sustainability of the entire value chain. The objective of this research was to understand the role of the drivers of sustainability in dairy farming from a TBL perspective, such as assistance to producers and the value chain, and the use of better technology and management practices. A sample of 54 rural farms in the dairy supply chain of the western region of Santa Catarina, Brazil, was used to test four hypotheses about what can drive sustainability. Furthermore, first- and second-order struc...

The study was conducted on eighty farmers belonging to 5 blocks of Kapurthala district during January to March 2016 in order to assess the effect of age and education level on the knowledge level about dairy farming, source of information acquired and adoption of recommended practices for carrying out different activities of dairy enterprise. The farmers in the age group of 20-30 years were found to be more interested in acquiring trainings, demonstrations and exposure visits and acquired high level of knowledge as compared to the elder group of more than 40 years of age. On the other hand the adoption of various management practices was found to be higher in elder than the young group. The practices found to be negatively correlated with knowledge were animal in heat, feeding of colostrums to newly born calf, record maintaining and dehorning of calf whereas period of insemination, dairy management practices, foot and mouth disease and symptoms of haemorrhagic septicaemia showed a significant positive correlation with the age of the farmers. Practices like animal in heat, feeding newly born calf, colostrums feeding, fodder and concentrate, record maintaining, clean milk production and dehorning of calf were positively correlated with the education level whereas all other practices were found to be negatively correlated. This shows that as the education level went on increasing farmers became reluctant to do field operations. Education level helped in acquiring the knowledge but adoption was found to be less in highly educated persons. The study revealed that in order to make overall development of the dairy farming community it is essential to select the actual beneficiaries.

Welfare and other aspects of sustainability are becoming increasingly important in consumer purchasing decisions. This chapter introduces a number of key welfare issues affecting the dairy industry that need system change, including lameness, mastitis and aspects of calf management. Other major topics concerning the sustainability of dairy production are: minimising grain use, feeding high protein leaves of shrubs and trees, reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as by changing diet to reduce methane output, and improving labelling and traceability.

Out-migration is quite conspicuous in the hilly areas of Uttarakhand. Besides other things out-migration has a bearing on livestock rearing which forms an integral part of
hill economy. Present work attempts to study the economics of milk production and marketed surplus in migrant and non-migrant member households. Primary data was collected
from 90 migrant and 60 non-migrant member households which were then analyzed using conventional economic analysis and linear regression analysis. Total cost of milk
production was found to be higher for migrant member households whereas marketed surplus was higher for non-migrant member households. Migrant status of household was
found to have a significant negative impact on marketed surplus of milk.

Cattle rearing not only helps in agriculture but at the same time also supplements the income of the household through dairy farming. Apart from contributing to the economic significance of farm household, dairy also leverages the participation and empowerment of rural women. The paper argues that dairying serves as one of the more effective instrument to attain inclusiveness, growth and sustainable livelihood impact. The present paper is a result of various reviewed literature which emphasize on the significance and role of dairy farming in providing additional source of income to the distressed farmers. It also emphasizes on the notable role of women in the dairy business which is supplemented by an empirical case study that elucidates how women successfully operate a cooperative society in Mulukannor, Telangana. It is a classic case of women empowerment in the dairy sector. The paper finds that dairying can turn out to be a successful proposition for countering agrarian distress in rural India and simultaneously empowering the rural women.

Despite constraints like rearing of livestock under sub-optimal conditions (due to low economic status of livestock owners), India has now become the largest producer of milk in the world. The development of Indian dairy sector is an unprecedented success
story as it is based on the efforts of millions of small producers. Government of India is making concerted efforts to raise the per capita availability of milk through increase in productivity of milch animals. In order to achieve this, assistance is being provided
to the State Governments for controlling animal diseases; scientific management and upgrading of genetic resources; increasing availability of nutritious feeds and fodder; improving microbiological quality of milk; and so on. The microbiological quality of
milk is poor owing to inadequate knowledge of clean milk production and lack of post-milking chilling facilities at the village level. Now that production of dairy products has to necessarily match international standards in order to compete in the world market,
steps need to be taken to improve quality of Indian milk products so as to boost export trade of these products in free trade regime and earn valuable foreign exchange. The extent of support by European countries to their dairy industry is 16 billion Euros a year whichis more than US$ 2 per cow per day subsidy. Half of the world’s population lives on less than US$ 2 a day, meaning that the worth of such an individual is less than that of a cow in Europe. It appears cynical, but the policy of dumping subsidised milk products onto the world markets leads to such a conclusion.
The direct beneficiaries of these subsidies are the dairy processing and trading companies, who play with the livelihood of poor farmers in developing countries. In fact, such a situation developed a few years ago when India lowered the tariffs on dairy products. Milk products from EU countries poured into Indian markets, destabilising the domestic dairy sector. The Indian Dairy Association (IDA)
then persuaded the government to enhance the import duty to protect the domestic dairy sector.

This study focused on the capability of two artificial intelligent approaches, including Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Multi-Layered Adaptive Neural Fuzzy Inference System (MLANFIS), as a prediction tool to model and forecast milk yield on the basis of energy consumption in dairy cattle farms of Iran. For this purpose, data was collected from 50 farms in Tehran province, Iran. For the purpose of gaining the best accurate ANFIS model, five energy inputs were clustered into two groups based on their energy share in total energy consumption and an ANFIS network was trained for each cluster. The results of statistical parameter evaluation showed that ANFIS 1 and ANFIS 2 from layer one were not as accurate as ANFIS 3 network (layer two) whereas, coefficient of determination (R2), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) values were 0.75, 1256.72 and 0.129 for ANFIS 1 and 0.65, 1409.43 and 0.144 for ANFIS 2 and 0.93, 681.85 and 0.063 for ANFIS 3 network, respectively. These results were considerably better than ANNs model with R2, RMSE and MAPE calculated as 0.85, 1052.413 and 0.0702, respectively. Eventually, the outcomes revealed that multi-layered ANFIS contrasted to ANNs modeling could successfully predict the milk yield level accurately. Hence, it is recommended that the multi-layered ANFIS can potentially be applied as an alternative approach.

Key words: Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, energy use, milk production, dairy farm, modeling

Bangladesh is an agriculture based country of which dairy sector shares a large economy and meets a great portion of the protein requirement of its population. Friesian crossbreds are highly recommended and beneficial to rear for dairy farms in the aspect of Bangladesh. The present study determined the parity effects on Local-Friesian cross-bred dairy cows' production and reproduction performance at the Central Cattle Breeding and Dairy Farm (CCBDF), Savar, Dhaka. 77 individuals were selected for this study and the quantitative data (Gestation period, Lactation period, Milk production per day, Calf birth weight and Calving interval) from the existing database (2008 to 2019) was recorded. Kruskal-Wallis test was conducted using STATA-13 statistical software to evaluate the association between parity number and each of outcome variables (Gestation period, Lactation period, Milk production per day, Calf birth weight and Calving interval). The results of each production and reproduction outcome varied significantly by parity number (p≤0.003) except for the gestation period (p=0.22). The obtained median of the gestation period for 1 st to 6 th parity was 276-279 days without the trend of increase or decrease in relation to parity. There was decreased calving interval (median from 1 st to 6 th parity, 529.5-375.5 days) and lactation period (median from 1 st to 6 th parity, 361.5-270 days) and increased milk production per day (median from 1 st to 6 th parity, 5.2-8.6 liter per day) and calf birth weight (median from 1 st to 6 th parity, 23-28 kg) with increased parity number. The results indicated that the cattle performance at Central Cattle Breeding and Dairy Farm was satisfactory. It was concluded that should explore the source of the short lactation periods further, as it is an important economic factor for dairy farms. Along with the genetic background of the dairy cows, some environmental factors (climate, year and season of calving) and

Brucellosis is one of the drastic disease of zoonotic significance. The disease is not only endemic to Pakistan but also to other South Asian countries. As a result, economic losses are escalating due to the burden posed by Brucellosis in the investigated area. The present study included herd demographic, management characteristics and risk factors as variables. Total of 66 cattle were identified at Pindi Bhatian dairy farm, Punjab Pakistan. Information on the risk factors was collected by filling the questionnaire from dairy farm workers. The blood sample was collected from 66 female cattles age range of 1.5 to 6 years on average. The serum was analyzed through Rose Bengal Test (RBPT) and i-ELISA. Out of the total, 42 samples positive (63.64%) with the RBPT and 38 (57.58%) samples were positive with the iELISA indicating the sensitivity of this test Crossbreed (22 cases) vs 16 cases in the Friesian breed. Relative Risk (RR) towards Brucella antigen. By comparison, the number of iELISA positive cases were high in for the breed (Crossbreed and exotic breed) was (p=0.1855; CI (95%).The animals with 6 years age (n=20 cases) were found to be high vs. 1.5 years. As for as abortion is concerned, it was found only in the 6 animals during the 3rd trimester irrespective of the age. Based on the findings, the disease is seems to be endemic in the area, perhaps, due to partial or no vaccination. Also, the area presents poor biosecurity measures and management. It is therefore, warranted to adopt good surveillance system for early identification of the brucellosis outbreak and appropriate measure for further control-transmission of the brucellosis.

Nature and landscape are increasingly appreciated as public goods and community assets in need of protection. Policy schemes aiming to protect vulnerable nature and landscape assets affect options for farm development and thus the opportunities for farm income strategies. Farmers as small business owners need to counter an ongoing income squeeze in their strategic decision. Farmers' perception of the options affects strategic decision making. In a case study with dairy farmers operating in a highly comparable biophysical and socioeconomic context, farmers differed in the perception leading to three main income strategies: 'maximising' or 'ending' of milk production and 'diversification of farm business' with the most dominant strategy being 'maximising'. Multiple regression analysis was used to explore the significance of seven drivers for the differences between farmers' perception of farm development options. The 'personal

While there are only approximately 400 dairy farms in the Otago Region, New Zealand, most of the farms are high producing farms by New Zealand standard resulting in Otago Region being the fifth largest milk solid producer. By the requirement of the regional farm dairy effluent regulation, all dairy farms are required to apply their farm dairy effluent onto pasture under certain specifications. All farms are visited and inspected by the regional authority annually and in addition any complaints from the community regarding any illegal effluent discharges are also promptly visited and investigated. This paper illustrates how stringent enforcement of the regional farm dairy effluent regulations can yield impressive compliance results.

Due to their inappropriate and indiscriminate use in treating mastitis, most antibiotics are now ineffective. The aim of the study was to determine the antibiotic sensitivity profile of identified bovine mastitis pathogens. Twenty-seven out of 38 isolates were revived from a previous work and were identified for antibiotic sensitivity. Gram-negative isolates were Klebsiella pneumoniae, Brevundimonas diminuta, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumanii, Vibrio metschnikovii, Flavimonas oryzihabitans and Pantoea agglomerans. Gram-positive isolates were Streptococcus agalactiae, Lactococcus lactis, Streptococcus sp. group C or G, and Corynebacterium renale. Enterobacteriaceae isolates were resistant to Beta lactams, Erythromycin, Nitrofurantoin, Novobiocin, and Clindamycin but were sensitive to Fluroquinones. Miscellaneous Gram-negative isolates were sensitive to Colistin and Ofloxacin but were resistant to Beta lactams, Novobiocin, and Clindamycin. Str. agalactiae isolates were sensitive to Cefaclor, Ofloxacin, and Gentamicin but were resistant to Cloxacillin and Trimethoprim. Gram-positive isolates were sensitive to Oxytetracycline, Ofloxacin, Erythromycin, and Gentamicin. Mastitis treatment guided by antibiotic sensitivity testing is a promising course of therapy likely to succeed. The regimen can be further improved by a combination of non-antibiotic therapeutic methods, responsible use of suitable antibiotics, good sanitation protocols, and organized recording of data.