Quality milk sources are the key to producing good milk
In recent years, with the improvement of scientific and technological innovation capabilities, the transformation and upgrading of China's dairy industry has clearly accelerated, and the development pattern of a modern dairy industry has taken initial shape. However, low production efficiency and weak core competitiveness remain difficult problems troubling the development of the dairy industry.
Last year, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences launched the “Research and Demonstration of Integrated Models for Improving Dairy Cattle Quality and Efficiency” project. At present, the project has built a series of production technology models for improving quality and efficiency in advantageous dairy cattle production areas such as Heilongjiang, Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu and Hebei, and after demonstration and application, it has driven improvements in dairy cattle production quality and efficiency, achieving remarkable results.
“Diagnosing and taking the pulse” for dairy cattle
A few days ago, the reporter came to the dairy farm of the Xinhai Dairy Cattle Breeding Professional Cooperative of Jiusan Nongken in Heilongjiang Province. This place is located at the junction of Meilis District, Gannan County and Longjiang County of Qiqihar City, and is a globally recognized “golden dairy cattle belt.”
Last year, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, together with 4 institutes under the academy, 9 local institutes and universities, and technology promotion departments, through collaborative technological innovation, comprehensively solved production problems in all aspects at the Xinhai dairy farm, reduced production costs and improved production capacity. The average milk yield per cow at the farm has increased from 8.67 tons last year to 9.4 tons now, an increase of 8.42%.
Zhang Junmin, chief scientist of the dairy cattle quality and efficiency improvement project, introduced that the collaborative project includes 8 technologies, including the application and evaluation technology of total mixed ration (TMR) for dairy cattle, key technologies for early rearing of calves, efficient breeding technology for dairy cattle, dairy cattle performance testing technology, mastitis prevention and control technology, and key technologies for the prevention and control of bovine brucellosis.
Among them, the application and evaluation technology of total mixed ration for dairy cattle uses whole-plant silage corn to prepare rations, improving feed conversion rate, reducing the incidence of metabolic diseases such as rumen acidosis in dairy cattle, and lowering feed costs by 5.1%.
Through the implementation of technologies such as comprehensive prevention and control of dairy cattle mastitis and prevention and control of bovine brucellosis, the incidence of dairy cattle mastitis was reduced by more than 8%, and the cure rate reached more than 85%. After the Jiusan Nongken Xinhai Dairy Cattle Breeding Cooperative applied these technologies, veterinary drug costs fell by 18.6%; milk fat and milk protein in raw milk increased substantially, the somatic cell count was below 300,000 per milliliter, and the total bacterial count dropped sharply, with quality surpassing imported milk from abroad.
Chen Mengshan, secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that a prominent problem currently facing China's dairy industry is low competitiveness. This is a composite problem that requires different technical fields to coordinate with one another and form comprehensive solutions involving mutual cooperation across multiple fields. It is necessary to create a one-stop dairy industry research organization model, enabling scientists to carry out research from the laboratory to the farm.
The “difficulty of selling milk” continues
After experiencing the “painful blow” of the 2008 melamine incident, in recent years the state has introduced and improved a number of dairy industry laws, regulations, policies and standards, vigorously carried out dairy industry rectification and revitalization, and successively implemented a series of policy measures such as subsidies for improved dairy cattle breeds, standardized large-scale breeding, and the action to revitalize the development of alfalfa for the dairy industry. A group of enterprises with no guaranteed milk source and backward production technology were eliminated, and the merger and reorganization of infant formula milk powder enterprises was vigorously advanced, optimizing the industrial structure and effectively safeguarding the quality and safety of dairy products.
In 2015, China had 15.07 million dairy cattle on hand, of which more than 80% were Holstein and improved cattle, and its inventory, total output and per-unit yield all ranked among the top in the world. At the same time, the degree of large-scale breeding increased. In 2015, the level of large-scale farming with more than 100 head on hand was close to 50%, nearly 30 percentage points higher than in 2008. The national mechanized milking rate exceeded 90%, and processing plants had even higher levels of pipeline-based, automated and intelligent operations.
In addition, product quality improved significantly. The pass rate of random inspections for prohibited additives in raw milk remained at 100% for 7 consecutive years, and the average values of protein and fat reached 3.14% and 3.69% respectively, with major quality and hygiene indicators reaching the level of developed countries. In 2015, the national pass rate of dairy products was 99.67%.
In fierce market competition, a group of dairy enterprises such as Yili, Mengniu, Bright Dairy, Modern Farming, Feihe and Sanyuan stood out. Whether in technical equipment, facility conditions, or in quality scale and quality supervision, they all made considerable progress. Moreover, their international visibility has also grown higher and higher. In 2015, Junlebao obtained the EU's A+ certification, and Modern Farming and Feihe Dairy both won gold awards at this year's World Food Quality Assessment Conference.
“At present, the development of China's dairy industry is in the best period in its historical development, and the overall quality of the industry is steadily improving.” Ma Ying, deputy director of the Dairy Industry Management Office of the Department of Animal Husbandry of the Ministry of Agriculture, said, “Of course, we should also face up to the difficulties facing the dairy industry.” She believes that the primary problem at present is the “difficulty of selling milk.” Dairy consumption increased by 19.3%, but this did not drive a synchronous expansion of production. Instead, imported dairy products have been growing in large quantities, leading to a prominent domestic “difficulty of selling milk.” In main production areas, 10% cannot be sold, and dairy farms also face operating difficulties. The second is that the competitiveness of the dairy industry is not strong. China is a major dairy country, but not a strong dairy country. China's dairy industry has a weak foundation and poor base, and remains at a disadvantage in competition with foreign countries. The cost of raw milk in China is 60% higher than abroad, while tariffs are one-fifth of the world level. The third is insufficient consumer confidence, with consumers holding a skeptical attitude toward the quality of domestic dairy products.
Milk is valued for being fresh and alive
In 2015, China imported 1.611 million tons of dairy products (excluding infant formula milk powder), equivalent to 10.03 million tons of raw milk (calculated according to domestic methods), accounting for about 27% of the country's milk output. Facing the huge impact of imported milk, domestic dairy enterprises are under enormous competitive pressure.
Gao Hongbin, president of the China Dairy Association, believes that the greatest advantage of domestic dairy enterprises lies in freshness and vitality, and they should make good use of local locational advantages. “The greatest advantage of integrating pasture and processing plant, with zero distance between them, is that low-temperature processing is possible, thermal damage is minimized, there is no transportation or storage process, and the milk enters the processing state in the shortest time, preserving active substances to the greatest extent. Therefore, the shorter the time and the closer the distance, the greater the advantage.” Gao Hongbin said.
Weigang Dairy in Nanjing, based on the local market, firmly grasped the two words “fresh and alive,” ensuring that low-temperature milk is delivered to consumers' homes every morning, achieving stable milk sources, stable customers and stable milk prices.
Li Shengli, a professor at China Agricultural University, believes that milk is valued for being fresh and alive, and advocates that consumers drink pasteurized milk. This method of sterilization can both kill pathogenic bacteria and preserve the biological activity in raw milk to the greatest extent. The entire process of its production, processing, transportation and sales is required to be carried out under cold chain conditions of 2°C to 6°C, and the shelf life is generally 2 to 7 days. Imported liquid milk generally comes from countries such as Spain, France, Germany, New Zealand and Australia, and its shelf life is almost always 9 to 12 months.
“Whether from a nutritional perspective or from a hygiene and safety perspective, dairy products are better the faster they enter the human body. Foreign dairy products travel across the ocean to China, which runs counter to this nutritional principle. The future direction of dairy industry development is pasteurized milk.” Gu Jicheng, secretary-general of the China Dairy Association, told reporters.
But at the same time, he also said that developing pasteurized milk does not mean rejecting room-temperature milk. Because at present and for a long period to come, room-temperature milk will occupy a relatively high market share and will be an important vehicle for improving the nutrition of Chinese people. If the dairy industry wants to develop sustainably and healthily, it must accelerate the adjustment of industrial structure, enhance the competitiveness of the national dairy industry, and reshape the image of China's dairy industry.