Zimbabwean dairy farmers are looking to Australia to boost their herd numbers and productivity.
Genetics Australia hosted 12 representatives from the Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers on a week-long tour set to expand connections between the two countries.
Zimbabwe is seeking to become more food self-sufficient with less reliance on imported milk solids.
ZADF CEO Paidamoyo Patience Chadoka said the chance to see Australian herds and how farmers use data would inspire Zimbabwean farmers to grow and improve their output.
ZADF represents more than 4500 members, mostly from small farms producing less than 200 litres of milk per day, but also medium and large-scale farmers with more than 2000 cows.
Mrs Chadoka said Zimbabwe’s dairy industry could use breeding to save on feed and production costs while producing more milk at a more competitive price.
“We believe our smaller farms have the capacity to grow and that we can increase milk production,” she said.
“We have been aggressively trying to grow our dairy herd size; that’s why we’re here.
“We don’t just want more numbers, we want higher productivity from the existing cows, especially through our breeding.”
While Zimbabwe’s milk production has grown by more than 10 per cent in recent years as a result of a value chain multi-stakeholder approach and now sits above 130 million litres, Mrs Chadoka said growth needed to accelerate and breeding and data would be the key.
“Some Zimbabwean farmers have used Australian semen, but very few are doing genomic testing or using breeding indexes when the rest of the world has gone in that direction,” she said.
“We are part of a global industry and cannot be ignorant of the developments in breeding.
“That’s why it has been invaluable to look at the breeding framework in Australia to see what we can benefit from.
“Australia has been investing in research and systems, and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
“We can use that information; that’s the power of knowledge sharing.”
The ZADF delegation visited Genetics Australia’s collection centre at Camperdown, Dairy Australia, Ellinbank Research Farm, DairyBio, DataGene, Holstein Australia, Jersey Australia, and Kings Ville Jerseys, Jelbart dairy farm, Kate and Jason Kirk, Wallacedale Jerseys, Homedale Australian Reds, Dehne and Sarah Vinnecombe, Loxleigh Jerseys, Long Road dairy farm, Emu Bank Holsteins and Jerseys, and Tesbury Holsteins.
“We saw a wide cross-section of farms, and while there’s no right or wrong breed, it’s obvious you should have data support,” Mrs Chadoka said.
“Data management is the biggest takeout – we need data to promote sustainability for the future.
She said farmers needed to be deliberate on what traits they were trying to address and they needed a pool of expertise to share.
“Farmers need to follow breeding systems in great detail and know what they’re breeding for.
“All the farmers we spoke to in Australia had breeding information at their fingertips.”
Mrs Chadoka said there were a lot of dairy industry similarities between Zimbabwe and Australia.
“I can see our connections growing and from a breeding perspective, we can look at using genetics and genomics to promote growth.
“The farmers on this Genetics Australia tour are dairy farmer representatives, lead farmers from different areas, and they will share their knowledge.”
To become self-sufficient and potentially export dairy products, Zimbabwe needed to look for smaller framed, heat-tolerant cows that could produce on pasture or total mixed ration systems, she said.
Mrs Chadoka, who sits on the International Dairy Federation as part of the science and program coordination committee, said the delegation also learnt about the power of Australia’s associations in tackling environmental, political and social issues and supporting farmers.
“We might not necessarily mimic these supporting pillars of the industry, but we’ll take out different functions from them,” she said.
ZADF, established in 2013 to promote, advance and develop milk and dairy product production in Zimbabwe, and is pursuing a strategic plan with nutrition, breeding, policy and environment, and economic pillars.
ZADF advocates for levy-paying dairy farmers and provides extension services and communication.
It aims to reduce the cost of feed and compliance, improve competitiveness to create a sustainable environment for dairy farmers, introduce new technologies such as solar and biogas, and reduce the cost of production to allow Zimbabwe to sell milk at a competitive price while maintaining margins for farmers.
“This is critical for survival of the Zimbabwe dairy industry in view of various regional and international trade, especially the African Continent Free Trade Area Agreement,” Ms Chadoka said.
ZADF also aims to promote the role of women and youth in dairy and is pushing for a school milk program and plans to run trials on multispecies pastures and emissions reductions.
Genetics Australia export manager Rob Derksen said the Zimbabwe dairy industry had a lot of challenges in the past, but was now growing.
“We feel the use of Australian genetics would set a great platform to build on in the future,” Mr Derksen said.
“I am sure the ZADF delegates will go home and spread the word on the importance of using genetics best suited to their farming systems.
“Australian genetics are performing exceptionally well in South Africa and we are confident we will see the same performance in several other African counties, including Zimbabwe.”
Mr Derksen acknowledged the openness of Australian organisations and farmers who were keen to share information with the delegation on what made them successful.