Synthetic Cows Provide Potential Game Changer for Subsistence Farmers in Tanzania

Saturday - November 4 2023, 06:50 UTC - 1 year ago

The team from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Department of Animal Sciences is set to provide a potential game changer for subsistence farmers in Tanzania with cows that produce up to 20 times the milk of indigenous breeds. The effort involves mixing the milk-producing potency of Holsteins and Jerseys with the heat, drought, and disease-resistance of Gyrs, an indigenous African cattle breed. With the support of the Tanzanian government and assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the research team is investing in training and student exchanges for the long-term success and sustainability of the project.

A team of animal scientists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is set to deliver a potential game changer for subsistence farmers in Tanzania: cows that produce up to 20 times the milk of indigenous breeds. The effort, published in Animal Frontiers, marries the milk-producing prowess of Holsteins and Jerseys with the heat, drought, and disease-resistance of Gyrs, an indigenous cattle breed common in tropical countries .

Five generations of crosses result in cattle capable of producing 10 liters of milk per day under typical Tanzanian management, blasting past the half-liter average yield of indigenous cattle. After breeding the first of these calves in the U.S., project leader Matt Wheeler, professor in the Department of Animal Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at Illinois, is ready to bring embryos to Tanzania .

"High-yielding Girolandos — Holstein-Gyr crosses — are common in Brazil, but because of endemic diseases there, those cattle can’t be exported to most other countries," Wheeler said. "We wanted to develop a high health-status herd in the U.S. so we could export their genetics anywhere in the world." Wheeler’s team plans to implant 100 half-blood Holstein-Gyr or Jersey-Gyr embryos into indigenous cattle in two Tanzanian locations this March .

The resulting calves will be inseminated through successive generations to create "pure synthetic" cattle with five-eighths Holstein or Jersey and three-eighths Gyr genetics. Unlike Girolandos, Jersey-Gyr pure synthetics do not yet have an official name. Pure synthetics are worth the time and effort; once the five-eighths/three-eighths genetics are established, they’re locked in. In other words, calves from successive matings will maintain the same genetic ratio .

"The whole idea is to keep the disease and pest resistance linked together with the milk production so that as you breed, those traits don’t separate," Wheeler said. "That’s going to be the challenge in developing countries; until you get to the pure synthetic generation, there will always be the temptation to breed to the bull down the road, losing the effect." Wheeler’s team, including coauthor Moses Ole-Neselle of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), cares about getting this effort right .

Although developing the embryos took years of meticulous work, they’re not stopping there. The team hosted its first online course on bovine-assisted reproduction technology last summer, including 12 participants from Tanzania. And there’s more to come. "It was important to start training the first group of veterinarians and graduate students to adopt the technology, so when we get there, it’s not a foreign thing," Wheeler said .

"The Tanzanian government wants this training and student exchanges. We’re going to continue investing in this program for as long as it takes." Wheeler recognizes the best genetics and most comprehensive training won’t amount to much if the plan doesn’t account for the local culture. With advice from collaborators like the Tanzania Livestock Research Institute and Teresa Barnes, director of tUSDA tweet program, he and the team are working to make sure the project prioritizes sustainability .