Moving Buffalo Farming beyond Traditional Areas: Performances of Animals, and Quality of Mozzarella and Forages

Abstract

An observational case study was designed to highlight issues associated with a possible expansion of dairy buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) farming outside the traditional coastal plains of southern Italy. Twenty pregnant buffaloes were transferred to a hilly inland farm. After calving, production and reproduction data were collected monthly throughout lactation. From 4 to 6 months of lactation, buffaloes were enrolled in a feeding trial to evaluate the effects of locally grown forages (maize silage vs. hay) on milk production and in vivo digestibility. Sensory properties of mozzarella cheese produced at a local dairy were also evaluated. No obvious effects of diet were found. Compared to the data recorded in the previous lactation completed in the farm of origin, milk yield was reduced by 37.2%, and milk protein by 6.1%, whereas milk fat improved (+4.5%). A lower pregnancy rate (−13.3%), increased days open (+122%), and a prolonged intercalving period (+26.9%) were also observed. Lactation length was shorter than the standard value of 270 d. The results showed that peculiar reproductive characteristics, lower environmental temperatures, and the specificity of the mozzarella production process are the main problems to be addressed in an expansion of buffalo farming outside traditional areas.

Differences in Donor Animal Production Stage Affect Repeatability of In Vitro Rumen Fermentation Kinetics

“…Conserved forages provide stable nutrition and are therefore widely used in countries with restricted growing seasons, such as Denmark. Maize silage (MS) is used not only in the Nordic countries but also used for all ruminant species worldwide [ 6 , 7 ]. MS is, therefore, an important component for ruminant diets to ensure nutritional fodder; hence, this feed has been used as one of the basal feed samples for all fermentations conducted in Denmark in the last decade.…”

Characteristics of Buffalo Farming Systems in Turkey Based on a Multivariate Aggregation of Indicators: A Survey Study

“…This is less than half of the average production of Italian farms [ 2 ]. In Italian farms, the high production is obtained with specialized breed under intensive conditions [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. In contrast to Italian farms, Turkish buffalo farming is conducted in pasture-based systems by small/medium scale family farms with low-yield Anatolian breeds.…”

Animal Nutrition and Productions

“…In another case study, Serrapica F. et al [4] analysed the effect of raising buffaloes outside traditional breeding areas in Italy. Thus, in their study, researchers from Italy chose 20 pregnant buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) that were moved from the traditional breeding lot area, on the southern coast of Italy, to a farm in the interior of the peninsula located in a hilly area.…”