From the earliest days of the dairy industry in Israel, farmers have introduced fresh ideas into their system which have resulted in being able to produce more milk with fewer cows.
The successful story of the well developed Israeli dairy industry is a result of more than 60 years of R & D in the field of precise nutrition (daily ration design), fertility management, veterinary services and dedicated dairy farmers.
There is a high milk consumption in Israel of 175 liters per capita annually. Average milk production per cow has increased from 4,000 liters annually in the 1950’s to more than 12,000 liters in 2006. The genetic improvement of the herds of Israeli Holstein Friesian cows is constantly enhanced by the use of frozen semen from 200 selected bulls.
Because of the harsh climatic conditions experienced in the Israeli desert, dairy researchers needed to solve the problem of the decrease of milk productivity in the summer months, resulting in the successful development of cooling methods to reduce the body temperature in cows, thus allowing reasonable milk production in hot climates. Due to the minimizing of “heat stress” on dairy cows, even in Israel’s extreme climatic conditions the performance of Israeli Holstein Friesian cows is amongst the highest worldwide.
Study tours can be arranged for those interested in learning more about the subjects of increasing milk production by means of correct feeding methods, the prevention of heat-stress in Dairy Cows and disease prevention and vaccination procedures. Amongst other subjects of interest are the raising of calves, management of herds and the preparation and conservation of fodder and other topics in connection with Dairy high technology.
