Dairy cattle development prospects in the Vologda region

Abstract

The article’s author determined the development trends of dairy breeds of cattle in the Vologda region based on the quantitative and qualitative traits dynamics from 2015 to 2021. According to the research results, from 2016 to 2020, the number of assessed livestock in the region stabilised, totalling 166 thousand animal units, including 76-77 thousand cows. In 2021, there is a decrease in the total number of livestock by 3.0 thousand animal units (up to 163 thousand heads), including cows - by 1.0 thousand animal units (up to 75 thousand heads). At breeding livestock farms for the analysed period, the number of animals increased by 8.27 thousand animal units. It amounted to 43.01 thousand animal units, including cows - by 3.56 thousand animal units (up to 20.49 thousand heads). In the Vologda region, the primary livestock of dairy breeds of cattle is made up of animals of the black-and-white breed - 68.46 thousand animal units, the rest of the species - from 4.47 (Holstein) to 10.62 thousand animal units (Kholmogory). The authors established for the analysed period an increase in the milk yield of cows for the Holstein breed by 1515 kg of milk (up to 9804 kg), for the Kholmogory breed - by 2147 kg (up to 7548 kg). An increase in milk yield until 2020 was revealed for the rest of the species. But in 2021, there was a decrease of 91 kg of milk for the Black-and-White breed (up to 8788 kg), 126 kg for the Yaroslavl breed (up to 6609 kg) and 222 kilograms for the Ayrshire breed. In the Vologda region, two species have high levels of milk fat: Yaroslavl - from 4.06 to 4.31% and Ayrshire - from 4.19 to 4.27%. For the Black-and-White breed, the indicators of the mass fraction of fat in the milk of cows are also at a high level - from 3.83 to 3.90%. The Black-and-White breed has the highest indicator of the mass fraction of protein in the milk of cows - from 3.21 to 3.30%, Yaroslavl - from 3.19 to 3.36 and Ayrshire - from 3.14 to 3.28%. Consequently, each breed population is characterised by its unique development of selectable traits in the region.