Dairy Farming and Disease Prevention Manual

Author: Xu Zhaoxue
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-01
Features: The Reform and Opening-Up has led to significant growth in China's livestock industry, with egg and poultry (chicken, pork) production ranking among the top internationally for consecutive years. However, dairy production remains lagging. As the standard of living improves, the demand for milk will continue to rise, especially in rural areas. Dairy cows are highly efficient forage animals with high feed conversion rates, requiring extensive grazing and strong adaptability. Given China's limited per capita arable land, relatively scarce feed resources, extensive grasslands and slopes, and increasingly fragile and deteriorating ecological environment, the country has committed to adjusting the production structure within agriculture and livestock. Policies encourage returning farmland to grass and forests, leveraging rural feed advantages and the characteristics of ruminants to vigorously develop grain-saving dairy farming. Milk will become a hot commodity for consumer demand, and the dairy industry will inevitably become a new growth point for the national economy.
China's dairy industry started its rapid development relatively late, so it is essential to adopt modern advanced technologies to transform traditional dairy farming practices into modern ones. This includes scientific feeding, management, and utilization to improve individual cow productivity and milk quality. To popularize scientific dairy farming techniques and address technical challenges in dairy production, this manual has been compiled. It provides detailed explanations on theoretical knowledge and practical applications, focusing on dairy cow nutritional needs and feeding standards, feed nutrition and ration formulation, feeding and management, milking techniques and preliminary milk processing, dairy cow reproduction, hygiene management and disease prevention, as well as the planning, construction, and environmental management of dairy farms.