Improve Your Knowledge and Skills in Dairy Farming

Build a solid foundation in the principles of dairy farming. Study breeds, production, and management strategies for both facilities and general business. A very practical course for small and large farms alike.

Course Duration: 100 hours

Course Structure

There are 9 lessons in this course.

1. Dairy Breeds
   • Comparison of dairy breeds
   • Ayrshire
   • Guernsey
   • Jersey
   • Holstein
   • Friesian
   • A.F.S. (Australian Friesian Sahiwal)
   • Illawarra
   • Judging cattle: general appearance, dairy character, udder
2. Dairy Products
   • The composition of milk
   • Factors affecting the composition of milk
   • Environmental and physiological factors
3. The Lactation Cycle
   • Explain the management of the lactation cycle in dairy cattle, on a farm property
   • Influence of the farmer on:
     • lactation
     • infertile cows
     • feeding
     • the milking shed
     • planning for feed-flow
4. Pests & Diseases of Dairy Cattle
   • Manage the wellbeing of a dairy cow
   • Optimising quality and quantity of production
   • Treatment techniques
   • Dry cow therapy
   • bacterial diseases in cattle
   • Disease types in cattle
5. Feeding Dairy Cattle
   • Manage the wellbeing of a dairy cow
   • working out dairy rations
   • maintenance requirements for a dairy cow
   • the dairy ration
   • working out the cost of dairy rations
6. Managing Dairy Cattle
   • Manage general husbandry operations for the dairy cow
   • Managing the heifer
   • Age of breeding
   • factors affecting milk yield
7. Breeding Dairy Cattle
   • Significance of animal breeding programs for milk production
   • Selection
   • Artificial selection
   • Regression
   • Disadvantages of inbreeding
   • Performance testing
   • Artificial insemination
   • Ova transplants
8. Managing Dairy Facilities
   • Explain the management of the facilities, including buildings and machinery at a farm dairy
   • Basic requirements of all dairies
   • Cooling of milk
   • Machine milking
   • Components of a milking machine
   • Choosing a system
   • Different types of systems
9. Dairy Business Planning
   • Develop a business plan for the management of a dairy property
   • Economics of dairying
   • Business plan example

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Praise for this course:

"The course was put together very well. It covered all the important aspects of dairy farming and offered some important practical hands-on information that other courses lacked. I thoroughly enjoyed it and feel now that I have equipped myself to work on a dairy farm."

K. Mackenzie