AR-News: (US IA) Italy’s dairy industry striving for improved genetics

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

Dairy is big business in Italy.
With dairy receipts accounting for 10 percent of the country’s total ag output
—as much as its famed wine industry—Italy’s 96,000 dairy farms are subject 
to stringent record-keeping and quality control requirements.
Iowa Farm Bureau leaders learned about the structure of the Italian dairy 
industry earlier this month on the annual county presidents’ incentive trip.
Each different dairy breed—nine in all—has its own national breeders’ 
association to collect and record production data on every herd. The information is 
analyzed and used for genetic improvement, said Dr. Stefano Biffani, a 
research geneticist with the Italian Holstein Breeders Association. 
Producing high-quality, clean milk is critical since 80 percent of the Italy’
s milk production is used for making cheese.
“The quality of milk is very important to the Italian farmer,” said Biffani. 
“Part of what the farmer is asking for is to have more functional animals. We 
are working to make more productive cows for a longer period.”




full story:

http://www.ifbf.org/publication/spokesman/story.asp?number=22427&type=News 
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