New programme to foster high-value goat milk infant formula industry

A new Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programme launched today has its sights on growing a sustainable, high-value goat milk infant formula industry in New Zealand.

Caprine Innovations NZ (CAPRINZ) is a five-year, $29.65 million PGP programme between the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Dairy Goat Co-operative (NZ) Ltd.

The objectives include improving the health and well-being of families, delivering a range of benefits such as growing research and farming capability and increasing export revenue across the New Zealand dairy goat milk industry to $400 million per annum by 2023.

The programme was launched in Hamilton today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.

“Our CAPRINZ PGP programme aims to strengthen the position of goats’ milk infant formula as the preferred alternative to conventional milk infant formula,” says Dairy Goat Cooperative chief executive David Hemara.

“We recognise breastfeeding as the best source of nutrition for babies and infants.  Our aim through this PGP programme with MPI is to target consumers in New Zealand and overseas by meeting demand in situations wherebreastfeedingg requires supplementation or isn’t feasible.”

The CAPRINZ PGP programme will develop innovative tools to enable all New Zealand goat farmers to measure and improve their performance, while ensuring any economic gains don’t come at the expense of the rural environment.

“Because many dairy goat farm systems use off-paddock animal housing facilities there’s the opportunity to decrease the environmental impact of pastoral farming through conversions from other farming systems,” says Mr Hemara. “Our programme aims to increase dairy goat numbers in the long term by 50% to over 100,000.”

MPI director-general Martyn Dunne says the CAPRINZ PGP programme expects to deliver a number of industry-wide benefits.

“In addition to the economic benefits, the CAPRINZ PGP programme also aims to create more than 400 new jobs on-farm, improve dairy goat farming practice and sustainable production, and boost capability across the industry,” says Mr Dunne.

“It will also grow New Zealand’s research capability in the science of high-value nutrition and health, and establish a dairy goat research farm to deliver and trial its innovations.

“The CAPRINZ PGP programme meets our criteria for investment, such as an innovation focus, delivering economic and environmental benefits, and a focus on the value chain.

“Due to the uniqueness of our New Zealand pastoral farming, developments by the programme won’t be able to be easily replicated overseas, ensuring benefits are retained in New Zealand.

“We’re excited about the benefits expected from the programme and the difference it’ll make for New Zealand’s goat milk industry.”

More information on the programme HERE. 

The CAPRINZ programme was one of nine business cases for new Primary Growth Partnership  programmes in the pipeline prior to the announcement of the independent review of the PGP. The review was announced in late 2017.

Source:  Ministry for Primary Industries

 

Hot, hairy bull enables major scientific discoveries around genetic mutation

An artificial breeding bull which caused some of its offspring to be excessively hairy and prone to overheating has led to two world-first scientific discoveries.

The bull called Matrix had inherited a previously unidentified genetic mutation from its sire and passed it on to offspring born in 2011 and 2012.

As part of an investigation into the bull, LIC scientists isolated the ‘hairy’ genetic mutation, and also discovered a variation in a Caribbean breed of cattle that allows them to tolerate high temperatures.

The discoveries – published this month by the prestigious international science journal Nature Communications – pave the way for the farmer-owned co-operative to breed cattle that will maintain high milk production in tropical conditions, and could protect New Zealand’s cows from future impacts of climate change.

Dr Richard Spelman, LIC’s chief scientist, described the finding as marvellously serendipitous.