Group picture of the forum for Genetic and Breeding with speeches about Genomic Selection, Yak Breeding in China and Cattle husbandry in Australia

Every year, the Cattle Science Committee and the Chinese Association of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine (CAAV) hosts a scientific conference on dairy farming in China. This years’ conference took place from the 24th to 25th of May in TaiÀn, Shandong province.

Not only the work and state of dairy farming in China are represented, but also an international involvement with participants from Denmark, Poland, Germany, USA, Canada and Australia are completing the picture. From Germany, Mr. Zengting Liu (VIT Verden) and Dr. Sven Grupe (ADT Project Consulting, Beijing) were contributing with lectures.  On the first day of the conference, the state of breeding valuations and milk control in China was presented in a forum with more than 400 participants. The great efforts of recent years have allowed China’s dairy farming to catch up with international developments. The solutions to structural problems at home are sought through cooperation abroad. On the second day, 3 forums reported on genetics and breeding, animal nutrition and reproduction. The focus was on developments in genomic selection in different countries and the breeding improvement of feed efficiency. Various joint projects of the countries were presented. Throughout the event, there was a strong emphasis on the link between feed efficiency and the issue of greenhouse gas reduction from dairy farming.

Many of the contributions reaffirmed that China’s cooperation with the leading nations of milk production is seen as the engine of this development. The objective is to catch up with these countries as quickly as possible. The discussions on the fringes of the meeting highlighted the importance of student exchanges between countries. The conference has been very well prepared in detail and well conducted. I would like to thank the organizers of the Cattle Science Conference, especially Mrs. Prof Wang Yachun from CAU Beijing for this successful event.

Sven Grupe, ADT Project Consulting, Bejing

The “German-Chinese Project to Foster Animal Breeding and Husbandry” is part of the Bilateral Cooperation Program of BMEL. http://www.adt-tierzucht-china.org