News Letter
Leeuwarden, July 2010
At the moment:
1. In December 2009, The Friesian has started the implementation of the feasibility study Identification and Preparation of Project Possibilities for the Dutch Dairy Sector in Ukraine. In this study, 10 Ukrainian companies (7 farms and 3 milk – processing plants) are taking part. Each Ukrainian company taking part in the study, will receive an expert analysis (zero – scan) from two Dutch experts. Then, on the basis of this zero – scan, an action plan for the company will be made. This action plan will include the recommendations of the experts with regard to the productivity, health problems, etc. The focus of the action plan will be put on how to increase productivity of the cows without major investments. The second visit of the experts will take place after two-three months for the final advice and consultations.
From the 25th till 27th March 2010, two experts of The Friesian visited the farm Shipanivske (Rivne region) for the 2nd time. The 1st visit to this Ukrainian farm (405 dairy cows) took place in December 2009. During that visit, the experts made zero-scan and SWOT analysis of the farm taking different parameters into account. After the 1st visit of the experts, the owner of the farm Shipanivske got an action plan with the detailed description of the aspects of his farm which could be changed without massive investments and that will lead to the considerable improvements in milk production. In three months time (between the 1st and the 2nd visit), a number of aspects mentioned in the action plan have been improved. For example: the ventilation of the farm has been improved, the milking methods have been changed, the cows have been regrouped according to the lactation period. All these changes have led to an increase in the milk production per cow. The expected result of the realized changes - 500 kg milk more per cow towards the end of 2010.
In July 2010, the 2nd visit of the experts to the farms Piskivske, Shevchenka and Niva will take place.
2. The agreement to cooperate in the framework of Curriculum Development between the Friesian, University of Utrecht and the Veterinary Faculty of State Agrarian Academy in Kiev (Ukraine) has been signed. The orientation mission of The Friesian took place in February 2010. A proposal for the post-graduate course for the veterinary medicine students of the Faculty of State Agrarian Academy in Kiev (Ukraine) has been submitted to EVD in April 2010. In July 2010, The Friesian together with Utrecht University, executed the inception mission for the project “Development of Post Graduate Course for Veterinarians in Ukraine”. From 4 until 9 July 2010, a number of dairy farms were visited by Mr. Brok (The Friesian), Mr. Scherpenzeel (Utrecht University) and a delegation of Kiev University (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine) with the goal to make observations about the skills and knowledge of the Ukrainian veterinarians. Observations and information gathered during the inception mission will be used to develop a ‘train-the-trainers’ program in The Netherlands where Ukrainian teachers will be trained and educated, all in order to improve in the dairy production in Ukraine taken the environment and animal welfare into account.’
3. The first mission of the experts of The Friesian and CRV for the G2G program Recording and Processing of Dairy Herd Data in Ukraine pook place in the period from 12 till 16 July 2010.
Together with CRV Arnhem The Friesian has started the inception phase for the project “Recording and Processing of Dairy Herd Data in Ukraine”. In Ukraine, there is a need to set-up one structural database system for collecting data from dairy cows on different level by all partners involved, especially on farm level. Within this period (12 – 16 July 2010), the team of expert visited officials in Kiev and dairy farms, breeding centers as well as laboratory in Sumy and Charkiv. Although there is much more needed to professionalize the Ukraine dairy sector, the basic-ingredients needed for optimizing the actual situation are available. Therefore, the introduction of a sustainable individual milk control registration system would surely help the Ukrainian dairy farms to focus on efficient productivity of their herd, taken also into account the monitoring on individual cow udder health. After this inception phase, the project partners hope to receive the official green light for the start of the implementation of the project.
For more information about the project, please contact Mrs. Natalia Tchernycheva
The Friesian
tel. +31 (0)58 216 72 66
cell +31 (0)6 17 74 84 27
e-mail n.tchernycheva@thefriesian.nl
