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African Swine Fever All You Need to Know About the Dreaded Virus
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious haemorrhagic viral disease of domestic pigs, caused by a large DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family The disease which affects pigs of any age can result in a high mortality rate and is responsible for the recent production and economic losses in so...Read more -
8 Breeds of Dairy Goats You Should Know
Dairy goats are the breeds of goats that produce a good amount of milk during their lactating season. There are numerous milk-producing goats available around the world. Goat milk is very healthy and nutritious. In fact, most people nowadays prefer to have one or a few milker goats for their dail...Read more -
Unravelling how animal diseases impact human health, wellbeing
A new research program has been launched to identify the individuals and communities most impacted by endemic and emerging diseases. Animal health leaders and researchers from the Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs) programme have secured US$7 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Founda...Read more -
The Meatmaster locally developed for low input costs
In the late 1980s, a number of sheep farmers in different parts of South Africa began to see the need, both nationally and globally, for an adaptable, economically viable mutton breed that could produce on the veld with minimum care and low input costs. After much discussion, it was decided to fo...Read more -
Spotting cows from space
Cows don’t seem to have a whole lot going on most of the time. They’re raised to spend their days grazing in the field, raised for the purpose of providing milk or meat, or producing more cows. So when students in UC Santa Barbara ecologist Doug McCauley’s lab found themselves s...Read more -
Predicting the next pandemic virus is harder than we think
The observation that most of the viruses that cause human disease come from other animals has led some researchers to attempt “zoonotic risk prediction” to second-guess the next virus to hit us. However, in an Essay publishing April 20th in the open access journal PLOS Biology, led by...Read more -
Mentorship lessons from a pioneering Boran breeder
Johan Erasmus, who owns and runs the Jeras Boran stud on the farm Wolvengat near Derby in North West, has been farming for 37 years. A founding member of the Boran Cattle Breeders’ Society of South Africa (Boran SA), he helped write the society’s constitution and remains involved in the promotion...Read more -
Measuring and improving the performance of cattle in feedlots
The world’s growing human population has resulted in an increased demand for protein, and sustainable beef production is key to meeting this demand in the long term. But with natural resources under pressure, beef producers are being compelled to produce more from less. The combination of decreas...Read more -
Livestock marketing tips
In many communal settings, livestock farmers tend to sell one or two animals at a time to neighbours or acquaintances. This might bring in some money in the short term, but it won’t make you better off in the long run. There are two reasons for this: you won’t get the best price for your animals,...Read more -
Keeping livestock Can we end the cage age
Between 2018 and 2020, 1,4 million EU citizens signed the petition ‘End the Cage Age’, with the aim of ending cage housing for farm animals in Europe. In response to this citizens initiative, the European Parliament requested a study by Utrecht University researchers on the possibilit...Read more -
Keep bulls fit and fertile advice from a Bonsmara breeder
Bookholane Mokoena farms on 270ha of leased land near Nigel in Gauteng. He started farming in 2015 and has since managed to increase his herd from 36 mixed-breed cattle to a 90-head Bonsmara stud herd. Mokoena grew up in the Free State, where his father was a subsistence farmer, and he developed ...Read more -
In pig brain development, nature beats nurture
Before humans can benefit from new drug therapies and nutritional additives, scientists test their safety and efficacy in animals, typically mice and rats. But, as much as they’ve done for biomedical research, rodents aren’t always the best research model for studies on neonatal brain...Read more -
Feeding cattle seaweed reduces their greenhouse gas emissions 82 percent
A bit of seaweed in cattle feed could reduce methane emissions from beef cattle as much as 82 percent, according to new findings from researchers at the University of California, Davis. The results, published today (March 17) in the journal PLOS ONE, could pave the way for the sustainable product...Read more -
Drought, COVID-19 take heavy toll on Namibian sheep farmers
The Namibian Swakara industry has experienced major production losses for the past three consecutive years. In 2020, the industry was particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with only about 8 350 pelts to the value of R2,8 million being sold, constituting a 87,9% decline in sales compared...Read more -
Dairy cattle What are we breeding for, and who decides
Genetic selection has been an extremely efficacious tool for the long-term enhancement of livestock populations, and the implementation of genomic selection has doubled the rate of gain in dairy cattle. Data captured through the national dairy herd improvement program are used to calculate genomi...Read more -
Chickens and pigs with integrated genetic scissors
Researchers at the TUM have demonstrated a way to efficiently study molecular mechanisms of disease resistance or biomedical issues in farm animals. Researchers are now able to introduce specific gene mutations into a desired organ or even correct existing genes without creating new animal models...Read more -
Breeding wireworm-resistant Meatmasters
The most dominant roundworm in South Africa’s summer rainfall areas is Haemonchus contortus. Known as wireworm (haarwurm) in South Africa and barber’s pole worm elsewhere, it is a blood-sucking parasite that targets sheep and goats, and can cause substantial blood loss in affected animals. It is ...Read more -
Breeding seasons in summer rainfall areas
Cows usually reach their optimal breeding condition about three months after the month of the highest rainfall. The breeding season should therefore be timed to coincide with this. For a summer breeding season, you should achieve the highest re-conception rate if the cows calve about one month be...Read more -
Beef industry can cut emissions with land management, production efficiency
A comprehensive assessment of 12 different strategies for reducing beef production emissions worldwide found that industry can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by as much as 50% in certain regions, with the most potential in the United States and Brazil. The study, “Reducing Climate Im...Read more -
Are top-priced genetics really worth it
In 2014, a Dorper ram, Bolt, made history when Mickey Phillips sold it to Martin Compion, who farms at Lonziekvlei in the Northern Cape’s Bushmanland, for R600 000. The purchase, which took place at the Upington National Dorper Sale, represents the highest price ever fetched by a Dorper, and one ...Read more -
15 000 pigs to be culled after AFS outbreak in North West
The North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is expected to start culling 15 000 pigs infected with African swine fever (ASF) on a farm near Potchefstroom in North West. This follows an urgent application brought by the famer to the North West High Court to have the department c...Read more -
Wellness for dairy cows
Does butter taste better when the cows are happy? FHow much is too much for a liter of milk? What will dairy cows of the future look like? What does a glass of milk have to do with environmental protection? Will cows be pastured in future, too? These are some of the questions that the new Center ...Read more -
Vaccination Of The Beef Herd Tips to Remember
Vaccines stimulate the immune system of the animal to produce antibodies. Antibodies (or immunoglobulins) are proteins created by cells in the blood or in various lymphoid tissues that can be found in the intestine or upper respiratory tract. These specific proteins help to destroy various infect...Read more -
Tips for preventing bloat in cows
If you’ve ever heard the saying, ‘Your eyes were bigger than your stomach,’ you probably know it usually refers to an overindulgence on food, ending up with a bellyache. Like humans, cattle can unknowingly overeat such grasses as alfalfa and clover and may end up with a serious condition impactin...Read more
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