A3o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 5,1982
Israeli
into world
MOSHAY OROT, Israel - The
whimsical cartoon of a loving cat
and mouse with the slogan "Make
Love Not War” on farmer Zvi
Marks’ cowshed is a little
misleading.
True, Marks’ love has been a
prune ingredient in building a
superb dairy herd, but the cattle
themselves don’t know much about
love, since these animals, and in
fact all of Israel’s record-breaking
dairy cattle, have been conceived
by a highly sophisticated system of
artificial insemination.
Although controlled artificial
breeding is old hat in the dairy
trade, the computerized genetic
planning in use here has helped
Israel achieve the highest milk
production in the world. Latest
figures show that Israel’s cows
were producing an average of
approximately 7,000 (14,500
pounds), liters per year per cow in
1980.
As Israeli super-cows are
becoming even more super, other
countries, particularly those in the
Third World, are beginning to line
up to buy semen and cattle. The
cattle are being exported to
African and Mediterranean
countries; some are turning up in
Arab countries.
An agreement to sell to Egypt,
Israel’s new peace partner, is in
the works.
COWS, COMPUTERS
AND DEDICATION
How has Israel achieved such
remarkable levels of milk
production, in a dairy industry
which was started only 50 years
ago?
Zvi Marks, a dairy fanner who is
a member of the Israel Dairy
Board and just finished serving
three years as Secretary of the
Israel Cattle Breeders’
Association, attributes the success
to supenor Black and Wtute U.S.
stock, computerized breeding and
feeding, and most importantly, the
energetic spirit of Jewish pioneers
who settled here after statehood in
1948.
Bespectacled Marks, together
with partner Dam Frank, manages
a herd of 250 cattle, 100 of them
.milk cows, on Moshav Orot, a
communal-type settlement about a
half hour’s drive south from Tel
Aviv.
Eager to talk about dairying m
Israel, Marks kicks the manure off
his boots and settles down on the
veranda of the pleasant house he
built for himself and his family. He
explains that Jewish pioneers
started dairying in this part of the
world around 1915 with the local
Arab cow called “Damascus.”
“She was a pretty mean,
scrawny and small diurnal, but she
was -resistant to local diseases,”
Marks recounts.
“In the 20’s and 30’s Israel
brought in bulls from Holland.
After World War 11, European
stock was no longer available, so it
was then, when we were forced to
buy American animals, that we
found out they were far, far
superior.”
"Genetically speaking," says
Marks, "we are still not better
than the U.S.A. The American
dairy fanner is unique and we still
have lots to learn from him. Also,
our average production is high
because we don’t have to include
poorer farmers m our averages. In
Israel, we only have productive
dairy fanners. But in Wisconsin,
there are plenty of farmers turning
out 10,000 liters.”
STRICT MANAGEMENT,
NEW DIETS
Marks points to the sophisticated
use of the computer in Israeli
dairying, which enables fanners to
carry-out efficient-'‘milk reeor---
develop
COWS
leaders
ding.” Keeping precise figures on
milk production, besides being an
obvious management tool, is
important when selecting animals
to make the next, even better
generation.
Computerized feeding
techniques also figure big, ac
cording to Marks. In Israel, where
water, therefore grass and gram,
are hard to come by, Israeli cattle
have learned to love a computer
prepared menu of tomato pulp,
orange peels, silage and residues
from beer and cheese production.
Statistics show that the industrial
leftovers are agreeing with the
cows, and milk quality, Marks
notes, doesn’t seem to suffer.
This system, says dairyman
Marks, who has been in the
business since 1964, is ideal
because many farmers, like
himself and Dam Frank, can band
together in groups of 50 to 100 and
share the expenses and services of
the feed center near their farms
where mixtures are prepared by
scientific calculations for the
specific needs of their cattle.
VITAL HEALTH PLAN
Another important element in
the rapid growth of Israel’s dairy
industry is a unique “sick fund"
for dairy cattle, which is owned
and operated by the farmers
themselves.
Yearly insurance coverage,
which costs the equivalent of 100
liters of milk per cow, entitles
fanners to outstanding medical
care by top veterinarians.
(Turn to Page A3l)
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. ,J e ’ computers. jres big ear. _ __rry. lencefrom
building Zvi Marks productive dairy herd in Ohio State University and began dairying in
Israel. A former Cleveland, Ohio resident. Israel in 1964.
...... r production, .ass and grain sui
balanced rations of tomato pulp, orange peels, limited because water is hard to come by
silage and residues from beer and cheese
SALUTE TO THE DAIRYMEN * I
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dairy products each and every day. L |
Congratulations, Dairy farmers, for a i
job well done! I
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