Israeli Cattle Breeders Association

If Herd book activities are the raison d'ךtre of any breeders' society then Milk-recording is the backbone of breeding dairy cattle. The founding fathers of ICBA recognized the importance of complete and reliable data on the production of each cow every year. More than one genetic theory has evolved over time, triggering changes in breeding methods every so often, but always relying on the hard facts as they emerge from regular monthly milk-recording.

BALADI COW

SYRIAN COW

DUTCH COW

In the early days of dairy cattle breeding in Israel, selection took two paths concomitantly: one in search of the superior breed to be continued, either purebred or for outcrossing common breeds; the other by selecting outstanding brood cows for the perpetuation of desirable characteristics, besides high yields of milk and butterfat. The following tables are intended to shed some light on the subject.

Results of Milk Recording 1929/ 30, according to breeds.


Breed	Cows no.	Age yrs	Days in milk	Milk kg	Fat %	Fat kg	Milk kg/d	Part of population %

Local (Baladi) Syrian (Shami) Crosses, undefined Dutch x Baladi Dutch x Syrian Baladi x Syrian Dutch	39 88 53 34 90 19 13	8.4 8.0 4.8 3.7 3.0 5.1 4.1	213 268 289 268 272 234 342	1266 2820 2748 1924 2962 1256 4217	4.11 3.95 3.89 4.05 3.65 4.30 3.30	52 113 107 78 108 54 139	5.9 10.7 9.5 6.7 10.9 5.4 12.3	11.6 26.2 15.8 10.1 26.7 5.7 3.9
	336	5.5	269	2541	3.86	98	9.5	100.0

From 1934 onwards, milk-recording in Israel gained increasing popularity as made evident by the following table. The immediate and long-term advantages of regular milk-recording have always been enjoyed by all the Kibbutz herds, while many family farms of the Moshav type discovered only in later years the economy of knowing every single cow's production.

Comparison of selected brood cows to population average (1935).


	Cows	Ave. annual yield			Ave. daily yield
	no.	Milk, kg	Fat, kg	Fat %	Milk , kg	Fat, gr

All milk-recorded cows Selected brood cows Highest yielding herd (Ginegar)	1424 327 64	3916 4790 4485	145 175 177	3.70 3.65 3.95	13.3 16.3 15.2	492 595 600

In 1984, ICBA erected the Central Laboratory for MiIk-recording, fitted with the most advanced testing equipment. The overall computerization of milk-recording and testing yields a continuous stream of pertinent data, readily available for Herdbook work, in general, and for the perfecting of breeding plans and progeny tests, in particular.

The Central Laboratory for Milk-recording is capable of testing for fat, protein, lactose and somatic cell count the monthly milk samples from all cows in the national herd. In fact, there is a constant growth in the number of dairy farmers participating in the milk-recording scheme and Israel-Holstein Herdbook. Due to its high standard of performance, ICBA's Central Laboratory serves also as a referential laboratory, according to which similar equipment located in commercial dairy plants is being checked and recalibrate, whenever necessary. Periodical "ring-tests" involving all major dairies have become the accepted rule.

Milk Recording in Israel

*Moshav = Cooperative of small holders with family-owned herds, inclusive of ag. schools.