Zimbabwean dairy farmers tour Australia. Photo: Contributed.
Zimbabwean dairy farmers are looking to Australia to boost their herd numbers and productivity.
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Genetics Australia hosted 12 representatives from the Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers (ZADF) in November on a week-long tour that aimed at expanding connections between the two countries.
Zimbabwe is seeking to become more food self-sufficient with less reliant on imported milk solids.
ZADF chief executive 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 says growth needs to accelerate and breeding and data will be the key.
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.
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,” she said.
“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 added.
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