A new solution has arisen in regards to the milk shortage that affects developing countries around the world.
Jack Rutledge, UW-Madison researcher and professor of animal sciences, has identified a way to aid countries in tropical areas to create and maintain herds of dairy cows to produce the milk that is badly needed as a source of calcium, protein and other nutrients.
'Developing countries are generally resource-poor, except for human resources,' Rutledge said. 'To maximize intellectual development of the human resource, infant nutrition is a key factor.'
Rutledge's project would rely on Wisconsin's vast dairy cattle reserves to produce embryos to be fertilized by native bulls, then shipped to countries like Thailand and China, where they would be implanted in native cows who would carry them to term. This process is already working in Vietnam, where embryos have successfully been implanted into native cows and have grown into successful milking cows.
These hybrids would be able to resist the tropical diseases and heat levels that would kill off cows from temperate climates, while producing much higher yields of milk than their native counterparts. Developing countries would thus be able to skip the time and effort it would take to create viable milking cows from local species.
'Dairy cows in the U.S. have been highly selected for improved milk production over the last hundred years,' UW-Madison dairy science professor Kent Weigel said. 'We have a highly developed program for the genetic selection of superior animals.'
Previous efforts by developing nations in tropical areas focused on importing expensive dairy cattle from the United States and Europe. Rutledge said his project will be more successful because it makes cattle ownership affordable, with hybrid calves valued at $60 and embryos at approximately $25.
Though these hybrids would not be able to reproduce, Wisconsin will soon be able to supply large quantities of embryos for very little cost, eliminating the need for a viable breed. According to Rutledge, the technology is so easy that the embryos could be made in these countries, as long as they have access to oocytes or eggs, from high-quality milk-producing cows.
Because developing countries are usually resource poor, dairy cows are a good investment because they consume foodstuffs that are not readily available to humans.
Increasing the number of cattle in developing nations is therefore an easy way for people in those nations to increase their wealth.
'If a farmer has two or three cows in many parts of the world, he is a rich man,' Rutledge said. 'If he is rich enough to purchase a TV, then his children may be exposed to a greater world. How many Einsteins or Henry Fords or Mother Theresas never had an opportunity to grow into their potential'?
