Past, Present, and Future Perspectives of Small Ruminant Dairy Research

Abstract

The objectives of this paper are to review small ruminant dairy research in relation to the dimensions of the dairy goat and dairy sheep industries in the United States and the world. At least 10 countries depend on goats and sheep for between 30 to 76% of total milk supply. Leading among developed countries is Greece producing 178 kg milk per person per year with 61% from sheep and goats. Most developing countries need research, extension service, and public support to improve apparent productivity of goats and sheep. Domestic supply from all milk sources is <100 kg/person per year, and annual apparent yields average <100 kg of milk/goat, <50 kg of milk/sheep, which makes supplies of animal protein and calcium from domestic sources very low. Statistical data on goat and sheep production for United States are not available. The small population of DHIA tested US dairy goats averaged in recent years >700 kg of milk/goat per year, and some dairy sheep breeds may produce as much as 650 kg/yr. The need for more milk availability appears to be reflected in the dramatic increases of dairy goat populations during the last 20 yr: 52% for the world, 56% for developing, 17% for developed countries, while sheep populations decreased by 3% for the world, by 6% in developed, but increased 14% in developing countries. Research has been sparse on the unique qualities of goat and sheep milk compared with cow milk. Much development work by various agencies has been devoted to reducing mortality and improving feed supplies in harmony with the environment; this work is mostly published in proceedings of scientific meetings, often not in English. Results have shown in many cases that dairy goats and dairy sheep can be very profitable, even in developing countries with difficult climate and topographical conditions.

Respective effects of milk composition and the cheese-making process on cheese compositional variability in components of nutritional interest

“…In addition, a higher total antioxidant capacity was measured in goat's milk. These results are in agreement with earlier reports [14,35,41,74]. They are, however, to be considered with caution insofar as the intra-species variability was higher than the interspecies variability for many parameters except for C4:0, C8:0, C10:0, β-carotene and Mg, which markedly differed between the two animal species.…”

“…botanical composition, maturity stage and preservation mode, strongly influences the milk composition in fatty acids, vitamins and carotenoids [13,36]. Similarly, the nutritional composition of milk also depends on species, breed, parity, production yield and stage of lactation of the animals [33,35,36,41]. The cheese composition in components of nutritional interest is therefore likely to depend on these different conditions of milk production.…”

Dairy goat husbandry amongst the household agriculture: herd and economic indexes from a case study in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…The success of the family business succession is a challenge for attaining sustainable development. Enough land assurance for young farmers and compatible financing is essential to maintain families on rural areas, proud of their business and rural life (Morand-Fehr and Boyazoglu, 1999;Silvestro et al, 2001;Haenlein, 2001). The dairy goat system profitability demonstrated in the household agriculture model could guarantee an opportunity for young farmers to succeed their parents' business.…”

A review of the nutritional and health aspects of goat milk in cases of intestinal resection

“…This effect is partly due to the higher levels of MCT in goat's milk (34%) than in cow milk (21%), as the presence of MCT in the diet reduces the synthesis of endogenous cholesterol and its intestinal absorption [23]. Furthermore, goat milk fat has a higher monounsaturated fatty acid content than does cow milk [28], and these fatty acids are known to have a hypocholesterolemic effect [37,56]. The levels of HDL-cholesterol, glutamate oxalacetate Goat milk and intestinal resectiontransaminase and of glutamate piruvate transaminase have been found to be within the normal limits described in the bibliography for the rat [45].…”