Israeli Dairy School Shares Success

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:30:00 GMT

John Donne penned the words, “No man is an island entire of itself…” In other words, no one is self-sufficient and must rely on others. No dairy farm should be an island of itself either. There is much benefit of learning from fellow dairy farmers whether near or far. Farmers must embrace new ideas and technology that has been proven to improve efficiency and the bottom line. Nowhere is this more evident than in the small country of Israel.

The sharing of ideas, technology and information is very important to dairy farms in Israel. As a result, they have the highest milk production per cow than any other country in the world with a national herd average of 27,264 pounds of milk in 305 days. Dairying in the country is unique in that both large and small farms embrace technology and innovation, use management software and are willing share information on their approximately 125,000 dairy cattle. The Israeli Cattle Breeders’ Association manages a computer system that contains information on every cow in the country. Its milk production, components, health, breeding, ancestry, etc. This shared information has greatly improved dairy cattle performance and farm profitability.

The climate in Israel requires farmers to feed differently than many other areas of the world. Because rainfall is limited and generally falls during the winter months from December through February, dairy cattle are feed a low forage diet which consists primarily of wheat harvested as silage with some also harvested as hay. Wheat is planted before the winter rains to avoid the need to irrigate. Corn is grown for silage but is used much less due to the amount of water needed to grow the crop. The rest of the ration is made up of grain and byproducts that are imported

Most of the feed for dairies is mixed in about 20 regional centers where silage and imported feedstuffs are stored and delivered twice daily to the farms. This reduces feed and machinery costs improving profitability.

Israel dairy farms use only one breeding service breeding only AI and one veterinary service which also further aids in the collecting of information in the national database.

Israel has also made great strides in water conservation out of necessity. They current recycle 80% of the water that is used in agriculture and employ other technologies such as desalination of water for use. Rainfall is limited making water a top priority.

Much technology has come from Israel that is being used around the world. They have readily shared this technology which has improve agriculture in many areas of the world.

The Israeli Dairy School was established by Ofier Langer to allow for the opportunity of dairy farmers and agricultural companies from around the world to learn from Israel’s success. The school offers dairy seminars in a unique environment lead by industry professionals. There are many topics to choose from with both farm groups and companies also able to choose their own customized program and length of program.

The Israeli Dairy School offers a wonderful opportunity to experience and learn from dairy farms in another country that is willing to share their knowledge with others in the dairy industry. Learn more about the Israeli Dairy School at www.dairyschool.co.il .

You can contact me, Robin Schmahl at: rschmahl@agdairy.com or call 877-256-3253 to learn more. I will be at the World Dairy Expo in October at the AgMarket.Net booth TC 664 in the Trade Center if you would like to talk about this opportunity.

Robin Schmahl is a commodity broker with AgDairy, the dairy division of John Stewart & Associates Inc. (JSA). JSA is a full-service commodity brokerage firm based out of St. Joseph, MO. Robin’s office is located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Robin may be reached at 877-256-3253 or through the website www.agdairy.com .