A high-yielding climate-resilient breed of cow has been produced by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This breed has the potential to significantly boost milk output for Tanzanian subsistence farmers, hence revolutionising local agriculture and food security.
Potential game changers for Tanzanian subsistence farmers could be provided by a team of animal scientists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: cows that can yield up to 20 times the milk of native varieties.
The project, which was reported in Animal Frontiers, combines the ability of Holsteins and Jerseys to produce milk with the heat, drought, and disease resilience of Gyrs, a native cattle breed that is popular in tropical regions. After five generations of crosses, cow managed normally in Tanzania can yield 10 litres of milk a day, much exceeding the half-liter average production of native cattle.
Breakthrough in Cow Crossbreeding
Project manager Matt Wheeler, a professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at Illinois, is prepared to transfer embryos to Tanzania after breeding the first of these calves in the United States.
“High-yielding Girolandos—Holstein-Gyr crosses—are common in Brazil, but most other countries cannot import those cattle due to endemic diseases,” stated Wheeler. “In order to export their genetics anywhere in the world, we wanted to build a high-status herd in the United States.”
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The University of Illinois has developed cattle with the heat-, drought-, and disease-resistance of tropical breeds together with the milk-production potential of Holsteins or Jerseys in temperate climes. Embryos from the crosses are headed to Tanzania in late winter to build local herds and increase food security. Credit: University of Illinois
In two locations in Tanzania this March, Wheeler’s team intends to implant 100 half-blood Holstein-Gyr or Jersey-Gyr embryos into native cattle. In order to produce “pure synthetic” cattle having three-eighths Gyr genetics and five-eighths Holstein or Jersey genetics, the resulting calves will be inseminated through subsequent generations. Jersey-Gyr pure synthetics don’t yet have an official name, in contrast to Girolandos.
When the five-eighths/three-eighths genetics are locked in, pure synthetics are well worth the time and effort. Put otherwise, the genetic ratio of calves resulting from consecutive matings will remain unchanged.
Cultural Considerations and Training
The goal is to maintain a connection between milk production and disease and pest resistance so that these features don’t diverge over time, according to Wheeler. “That will be the challenge in developing countries; there will always be the temptation to breed to the bull down the road, losing the effect, until you get to the pure synthetic generation.”
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) coauthor Moses Ole-Neselle is part of Wheeler’s team, and they are concerned about doing this project correctly. Even though it took years of careful labour to produce the embryos, they aren’t stopping there. Twelve students from Tanzania attended the team’s inaugural online course on bovine-assisted reproduction technologies last summer. And there will be more.
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“It was crucial to begin preparing the initial cohort of veterinary professionals and postgraduate students for the technology’s adoption, so that when we arrive, it won’t be unfamiliar,” Wheeler stated. The training and student exchanges are desired by the Tanzanian government. For as long as it takes, we will keep funding this initiative.
Wheeler understands that even the best genetics and most thorough training won’t help much if the plan doesn’t take the local culture into consideration. Already, Wheeler has modified his plan to take into account the preferences of the local Maasai herdsmen, thanks to input from collaborators such as Teresa Barnes, director of the Centre for African Studies at Illinois, and the Tanzania Livestock Research Institute.
He explained, “We made the initial Holstein crosses, which were large and black, but we learned some Maasai clans strongly prefer smaller, red cattle, so those weren’t going to work.” “We experienced a little setback because I had to start over with Jerseys. If they receive greater acceptance, it will all be worthwhile.
But to really capitalise on the superior genetics, several parts of Tanzanian cattle husbandry would need to change. Wheeler, for instance, claimed that daily grazing by nomadic Maasai herders frequently takes cattle 25 miles from their enclosures, which reduces the amount of energy available for milk production.
Potential and Challenges Ahead
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Even though the initiative is just getting started, it is a step in the direction of more climate-resilient animal agriculture, which is the focus of the Animal Frontiers special issue that Wheeler’s essay is published in. Wheeler stated that the same technology might be used to shield cattle from shifting climates both domestically in the United States and abroad, even though his present focus is to increase food security in the Global South, where climate change is having the greatest impact. To put it another way, we could introduce tropical traits into our already high-yielding cattle to increase their resistance to illness, heat, and drought.
These cattle would be excellent in California, Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. Perhaps this is the right time to consider that, Wheeler suggested. “I think people will look back and realise having tropical genetics earlier would have been a good thing. People don’t usually think that far ahead.”
Reference: “Development of genetically improved tropical-adapted dairy cattle” by Paula V Marchioretto, R A Chanaka Rabel, Crystal A Allen, Moses M B Ole-Neselle and Matthew B Wheeler, 13 October 2023, Animal Frontiers.
DOI: 10.1093/af/vfad050
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