Abstract
This case clinically analyses the dynamics of the dairy sector and its core foundations, without which it is impossible to run this enterprise successfully. The prime focus is to understand the prerequisites of establishing a sustainable and profitable dairy farm considering the most critical climate factor. It provides guidelines for good dairy farming practices, challenges, and probable measures to address the obstacles. Most importantly, this case presents the execution of a mixed blend of existing and modern dairy farm practices considering prevalent constraints in the sector. The differences in breed, feed, nutrition, animal welfare, environment, and technology between the leading dairy-producing countries and developing countries (like Pakistan) are highlighted. Finally, the case suggests good dairy farming practices adopted in the local context to operate a dairy farm efficiently.
Discussion Questions
What is your understanding of the dairy sector of Pakistan?
Do you think Jamal has the required knowledge of dairy farming?
Did Jamal make the right decisions regarding breed selection?
Do you agree that best farm practices are being followed at the farm and that the farm has the optimal productivity level?
What had worked at the farm and what did not?
Do you agree with the choice of a controlled shed? Should Jamal go for it?
In early September 2017, Jamal Nasir Cheema, the owner of Cheema Dairy Farms, was sitting in an air-conditioned room at his farmhouse in Gujranwala near Kalaske village with his cousin, who also happened to be his close friend. It had been more than a year since he imported Holstein dairy cattle from Florida, United States. These cattle had been facing health problems since they arrived due to a non-native environment, but the situation got worse when heifers (a female that had not had any offspring) started giving birth to dead calves. The animals were struggling to survive in the hot summer conditions, and few of them died due to heat shock, and many got sick. The other issue was the availability and retention of skilled labour as people migrated to urban areas for work, better health facilities, schooling, security, and recreational activities. The situation was alarming as Jamal Nasir had put in a lot of hard work and investment into the farm for the last three years. Issues lined up one after the other, and Jamal had no clue how to resolve them. One of the options his family and friends were insisting on was to sell the animals in the local market. Considering the herd’s history of disease and deaths, the local market would not buy animals at more than 50% of the cost price—the other option was to build an air-conditioning system to protect the animal from heat. The latter option seemed very expensive and could prove devastating in case of failure. He had studied controlled shed technology during his stay at Florida Dairy Institute, which he thought might be a possible solution for all the issues. However, he was unsure about this system’s success as this technology was new to the local dairy system. This was due to several factors that included the local environment and available resources. Jamal did not want to lose the precious breed and all the hard work that had gone into it.
Nevertheless, Jamal needed more finances and support from his family to retain the animals. Jamal also knew that only financial and family support would not be enough for his dairy farm’s success. He also required skilled labour, a veterinarian, a nutritionist, and a dedicated farm manager who were reluctant to live and work in a village.
Pakistan Dairy
Total Milk Production and Dairy Production Systems
Pakistan produced about 45 billion litres of milk annually, making it the third-largest milk-producing country (Government of Pakistan, 2018). Milk production grew at a rate of 3.2% annually, as shown in Table 1, whereas the demand for milk increased at a rate of 13.5% annually (Burki & Khan, 2016; Government of Pakistan, 2018). It had been estimated that the gap between milk production and consumption had risen from 10% in 2003 to 20% in 2008, and it kept on growing (Burki & Khan, 2016; Zia et al., 2011). This gap might continue to broaden in the future unless inefficiencies in the milk production system were removed or minimized.
Total Milk Production (in Thousand Tonnes).
Pakistan Dairy Production Systems/Dairy Farms.
In contrast to leading dairy producers and developed countries, Pakistan’s dairy industry was characterized by a small-scale and fragmented industry with only a few commercial and corporate farms. Most dairy farms had less than five animals with low milk yields (Zia et al., 2011). These farms were not true dairy farms (a large portion of household income did not come from dairy) and were considered additional income sources. In most cases, milking animals were for household consumption only. There was very limited use of modern technology and farm management practices in dairy farming; however, the overall milk production had increased over the years (Government of Pakistan, 2019).
According to the Pakistan Economic Survey (2019), the national herd comprised almost 84.9 million dairy animals (buffalos and cows), out of which 84% were raised at subsistence level farms (with 1 to 4 dairy animals). These subsistence farms made up almost 92% of the total farms in Pakistan.
Almost 60% of the dairy herd (cattle and buffaloes) was in the Punjab province, followed by the remaining 23% in Sindh, 11% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), and 6% in Baluchistan province (Ministry of National Food Security & Research, 2019). Table 2 describes the prevalent dairy production systems in Pakistan.
Total milk production had increased by about 27% in the last decade. This increase was essentially due to the rise in the number of cattle, which went up by about 28% during the same period (Government of Pakistan, 2018). The milk yield per animal was either stagnant or going down due to several reasons that might include seasonal variation, poor disease management of the animals, improper and insufficient feeding (low-quality feed), and lack of good agricultural (management) practices (GAP). Compared to other countries, Pakistan’s milk production per animal was low, about 6.1 litres per animal per day. One animal in Pakistan produced milk equal to only one-third of the milk produced by a dairy animal in New Zealand (about 16 litres per day per animal), one-sixth of the milk produced by an animal in Germany (about 34–36 litres per day per animal), and one-seventh of the milk produced by an animal in the United States of America (about 40 litres per day per animal) (Garcia et al., 2003). According to one estimate, milk production could increase seven to eight times using modern technologies and good farm management practices (GAP). Also, it was cost-effective to increase the productivity of animals (both domestic and exotic breeds) by exercising good agricultural practices (GAP) that could save a lot of capital expenditures that might include the cost of animal (one Holstein-Friesian cow cost about US$3,500), animal housing cost (infrastructural cost), labour costs and other farm related costs.
Seasonality and its Impact on Dairy Farm Production
Like any other country, milk production and consumption in Pakistan were greatly affected by seasonal fluctuations. The long hot, dry/humid summers affected the animals in the dairy herd and directly affected the milk production of lactating animals. According to an estimate, a lactating animal’s peak milk production dropped 25%–30% from May to August due to heat stress and green fodder’s unavailability, as shown in Figure 1.
The near to calve animals (close-up animals) felt stressed, and their feed intake was reduced; hence, they gave birth to underweight calves. The birth weight of calves was directly proportional to the future performance, that was, milk production (in the case of females) and body fattening (in the case of males) (Javed et al., 2004). The heat stress on calving animals also affected their body condition and future milk production. The hot weather made the artificial insemination (AI) process difficult as animals did not conceive in stressed conditions, thus increasing the herd’s empty rate. It had been observed that the AI rate had risen from 3.1 inseminations per animal in winter to 5 inseminations per animal in summer (Chebel et al., 2004; Putney et al., 1989; West, 2003). This high rate of AI per animal increased the operations cost drastically if imported siemens were used. Hot weather affected the whole dairy herd (lactating, near to calve, dry animals, and youngstock), reduced their body performance, and increased the chances of diseases (lameness).
Due to the multifaceted effects of hot weather in Pakistan, there was a need to provide a comfortable environment for the dairy herd. The cow cooling system was already in place in a few small commercial and corporate farms in Pakistan. In this system, large commercial propeller fans were used at different locations that propelled air from one end of the dairy shed. In addition to fans, water sprinklers were installed in the waiting areas before the milking parlour and above the feeding areas to cool down the animals before and after milking (the most stressed dairy cattle) activity. Few farms used water mist sprayers in the sitting/relaxing areas of the animals. This system was appropriate during the hot, dry summer months (May and June), but this adversely affected animals during hot, humid months (July, August, and September). Higher humidity levels in the breathing air made animals’ respiration difficult, and body stress increased to the highest levels. The excessive use of water for the land animal might cause problems that might include lameness and mechanical injury due to slippery walking surfaces. During this period, no major activity like milking, calving, artificial insemination, and disease treatment could be carried out efficiently.
Issues and Challenges faced by Dairy Farmers in Pakistan
Several predominant factors affected the country’s dairy production and needed to be addressed to uplift the dairy sector.
Low Productivity of animals
Animal’s Health Problems
Unavailability of skilled Labour
Improper and unbalanced Feed/nutrition
Milk supply chain inefficiencies
Marketing constraints.
Family History of Farming
Since 1953, the Cheema family was engaged in agricultural production and owned more than 1000 acres of agricultural land. More than 80% of total land was under rice and wheat cultivation, located in a high rice-producing zone near Gujranwala. On the remaining 200 acres of land, the Cheema family grew fodder (maise and millet) for various animals (buffalo, sheep, goat, horse) that were being raised on his and his employee’s (Mazara’s) farms. Although the area was well known for potatoes, barley, and sugarcane, the Cheema family never cultivated them. The family’s orientation was of a conventional ‘zamindar’ who used traditional cultivation methods and was resistant to new agricultural practices and technology.
Nasir Cheema’s father was an old Ravian (alumni of the Government College University, Lahore), he did his MSc in Mathematics and also LLB degrees. He was a well-known personality in the area and had always shown a high interest in politics. He participated in elections and was selected as an MPA (a provincial assembly member) for six consecutive terms. Even though Nasir Cheema graduated from a well-known institute in the country, he was still a traditional farmer and landlord with a limited focus on modernising his agricultural practices. In 1978 by establishing a dairy farm of 700–800 buffaloes, Nasir Cheema diversified his agricultural business. Still, the sole reason behind this was to be called the largest herd owner of the area. Traditionally, the family with a higher number of acres and many animals (of all sorts) was considered well-reputed, high ranked, and authoritative in case of disputes. The dairy farm was run by conventional methods with little focus on animals’ health, best farm management practices, and cost–benefit analysis.
Jamal’s Entry into Farming Business
Nasir Cheema’s son, Jamal Cheema, did his MBA in marketing from GIFT University, Gujranwala. Before joining GIFT University, Jamal Cheema attended Army Public School and College, Gujranwala, for his early education. Jamal Cheema had a dynamic personality and always looked for better ways to get the job done. Jamal often talked to his father about agricultural practices at their farm and how they could improve the farm’s efficiency. His routine practice at the end of the harvesting season was to compare his farm production with the neighbouring farms and look for ways to improve it. Jamal had a strong inclination to revolutionize the agricultural practices at his farm. After careful thought and realising the potential in dairy farming, Jamal Cheema decided to uplift his dairy farm business using the best agricultural practices and modern technology.
Born to an agriculturist and dairy farmer’s family, Jamal Cheema knew all the basics of dairy farming. Nevertheless, he always wanted to learn more about it. He started reading about dairy farming and attending different seminars and workshops on the dairy farming business and prevalent practices on the national dairy farming front. Later, Jamal Cheema decided to get some insights from the USA’s hub of dairy farming. He obtained his ‘Certificate in Dairy Farming’ from the University of Florida, USA, in 2012. During his stay in the USA, Jamal Cheema learnt various aspects of modern dairy farming that were completely different from his understanding. He learnt about dairy farming families, the cows, efficient farm management practices, and interesting facts (Appendix A) about dairy farming (Florida Dairy Farmers, 2019).
‘We want consumers to know that we invest countless hours every day to provide high-quality milk and milk products to them in the most sustainable manner possible. We love our land, cattle, and what we do.’
Jamal Cheema learnt that cow care, dairy quality, environmental safeguards, and modern technology at farms were the most important things. Cow care included healthy diets (balanced nutrition), comfortable housing/bedding, and medical care. In Pakistan, cows were primarily fed on the available and cheap fodder ignoring what cows needed at the stage of lactation. Similarly, the dairy sheds and floors were not designed according to the cows’ comfort but instead to keep the cost and availability of the material in perspective. There was no proper system of diagnosing and treating sick cows, and several cows had to be sold to butchers when they could not be treated due to delay in treatment or, in severe cases, sudden deaths were reported. Jamal Cheema was worried about the present state of dairy farming in Pakistan. Still, at the same time, he was happy that at least he knew several good things about modern dairy farming and which, if implemented in Pakistan, could change the outlook of dairy farming completely.
On his return from Florida (USA), Jamal Cheema was concerned and motivated to upgrade his dairy farm on modern grounds. Many things simultaneously inundated his mind, but he was confused about where to start. His dairy farm with traditional buffaloes produced only 4–5 litres of milk per day with high feed consumption. After much contemplation, he finally decided to start with milking animals’ replacement (both type and breed) at his farms, but his father had a different idea for his ‘DERA’.
His father was not a practising farmer; hence was not aware of the actual impact of modern farm management practices that had changed with time. The buffaloes at Nasir Cheema’s farm produced only 3–4 litres of milk per day per animal compared to nearly half the average of 6.1 litres per day per animal. These animals resided on 4 to 5 acres, and another 200 acres of land was reserved for fodder production for these animals. Nasir Cheema believed that if they had enough milk production without effort, ignoring the time and cost analysis, why should he change the whole traditional farm model? Nasir Cheema had no clue that the modern dairy farm business revolved around breed, feed, nutrition, skilled labour, and the environment.
Jamal Cheema and his cousin, Akhter Cheema, tried to convince Jamal’s father to replace traditional low yielding buffaloes with exotic breeds of cows with high milk yields but to no avail. In a one to one meeting with Nasir Cheema, Akhter Cheema tried to convince his Uncle and said,
Chacha Gee (Uncle), I am convinced with Jamal’s arguments and the cost–benefit analysis he has done. Also you are busy with politics and other activities, so why do not you allow Jamal to take control of the dairy farm? After all, he will be your successor, and it is the right time to hand over the responsibilities he is asking for; if you allow him, I am sure he would leave no stone unturned to make the new dairy farm a success.
However, Nasir Cheema was very firm in his beliefs and refused every proposal of his son and nephew and told them, ‘Do whatever you want to do, spare my animals and me for now.’ This was the end of the debate, but Jamal Cheema decided to run a dairy farm on modern farm management practices that revolved around the breed, feed, and comfort. This became an egoistic confrontation between the father and the son, the traditional versus the modern dairy farming.
Establishment of Jamal’s Dairy Farm
In late 2013, after a conclusive discussion with his father, Jamal Cheema decided to establish his own modern dairy farm from scratch. The first step was to select the type of cattle and its breed, as he knew that buffaloes could not compete in the quantity of milk produced by cows. Therefore, he purchased cross breed cows (local cows crossed with American Bull’s semen) from the local farms. Initially, he started with 100 cows due to his limited finances and resources. He established a traditional open dairy shed (Appendix B), also known as a cow cooling dairy production system, and administered good dairy farming practices. He ran this farm successfully and achieved a yield of 17–18 litres per day per cow, which was about four times what his father was getting from buffaloes. However, Jamal Cheema was not satisfied with the breed at his farms because he knew that there was a far better breed in Florida, USA, that could yield more than 30 litres of milk per day. During his dairy farm’s establishment and operations, Jamal Cheema was in constant conversation with his father. Whenever Jamal got a chance, he would tell his father that his cows produced about three times more milk than his father’s herd. When Nasir Cheema compared the numbers with his son’s cow farm, he was surprised and happy at the same time. There was no comparison between the 800 buffaloes eating more feed (30–35 kg per day per animal) and producing one-third of 100 cows with less feed consumption (20–25 kg per day per animal). Still, his son’s cow farm’s average per animal production was way better than his own.
In March 2015, Nasir Cheema called his son and asked him about his dairy farm’s plans. Jamal told his father his intentions to import a top breed from the USA and run his dairy farm on a scientific method. Nasir Cheema proposed that he should sell all the buffaloes at their family farm and use the funds to import top breeds from Florida, United States. Jamal felt like his dream of running a first of its kind dairy farm in Pakistan was now at arm’s length. He thanked his father and started planning the dairy farm he once dreamed of.
The first step was to select the breed that could easily acclimatize to the Pakistani environment and produce the desired results. Though Jamal had complete knowledge of different types of breeds available in the States, he conducted thorough research to select the top and most suitable breed to rear at his farm.
Selection of the Breed
As described in Appendix C, different breeds were available to choose from in Florida, USA (Florida Dairy Farmers, 2019; Holstein Association USA, 2019).
After a comprehensive analysis of different traits and their costs, Jamal selected the Holstein breed to import from Florida, USA (Appendix D). Considering all the circumstances, he decided to import cows in February and March. The reason for this was to save the breed from sudden thermal shock and give them time to settle down in the new environment. Jamal also decided to import six months old animals to rear at his farm as a youngstock. Before administering their first artificial insemination, he wanted to raise them in the local weather. Jamal decided to import 149 animals due to the budget and the available space. Finally, on 2 March 2016, the animals landed at Sialkot International Airport from Florida (Appendix E).
On arrival, the animals were checked thoroughly for physical injuries, sickness, discomfort, and any other problem that may need immediate attention. The individual animals had different colour ear tags with numbers (Appendix F). Each colour had a different meaning depending upon the age and sex of the animal. Soon after birth, every calf got an ear tag with the same number as the mother. The white tags represented a newborn calf as a bull, and yellow meant it was a heifer (a female that has not had a calf yet). Apart from the animal’s age and sex, ear tags also carried a lot of information that included animal history, body mass progression, vaccination, birth date, bloodline, and other characteristics. Dairy farmers used many different colours of ear tags to identify the number of lactation cycles of the cows at farms. Though the youngstock was vaccinated before import in Florida, another dose of FMD (Foot and Mouth Disease) and HS (Haemorrhagic Septicaemia) was administered. These animals were exposed to a new environment with high chances of catching these diseases.
Good Dairy Farming Practices at Jamal’s Dairy Farm
Jamal identified very clear objectives and took the initiative on all good dairy farming practices, including animal health, nutrition, animal welfare, milking hygiene, environment, and human resource management.
Animal Health
The most important aspect of a successful dairy farm was to have animals that produced healthy milk safe for drinking. Jamal Cheema carefully set the objective for animal health and strictly followed them. However, he faced many challenges to meet these objectives, particularly in managing herd health, as mentioned in Appendix G (i).
Nutrition (Feed and Water)
Proper nutrition (both quantity and quality) and clean drinking water were key to success. Jamal set the objective for nutrition and strictly followed them. However, he faced major issues with maintaining a sustainable feed, nutrients, and water source, as described in Appendix G (ii).
Animal Welfare
During his stay in Florida, Jamal learnt a great deal about animal welfare that was not limited to sheltering them and feed only but also letting them wander freely to search for feed, water, safeguarding them from contaminated feed, discomfort, pain, injuries, disease, fear as mentioned in Appendix G (iii). It also included the availability of free space and time to follow their normal animal behaviour. Jamal Cheema noticed that the code of conduct was rarely followed in local dairy farming systems, but he decided to follow it to the maximum.
Milking Hygiene
Milking was a critical function at the farm and had to be carefully performed while maintaining hygienic conditions before, during, and after milking. Jamal set the following objectives for this function and faced challenges and issues on this front, as described in Appendix G (iv).
Environment
The environment in and around the farm was key to running the dairy operations successfully. It was critical for both people and animals on and around the farm. Jamal Cheema was very concerned about the environment and set different objectives to control it, yet faced few problems, as mentioned in Appendix G (v).
Human Resource Management and Farm Financials
All the objectives and functions discussed above completely relied on the people who worked at the farm. Jamal Cheema knew the importance of this aspect of dairy farming, set the objectives accordingly and tried his best to achieve them even though he faced a few issues and challenges described in Appendix G (vi).
Jamal put all his efforts into addressing nearly all the issues he might face in rearing exotic breeds at his farm. This went well for 3–4 months initially, but this state of the affair started to change as soon as the summer months approached. Although the animals were suited for the hot environment, the months of July to September of 2016 proved to be a disaster. The heifers were ready for artificial insemination (AI) to become pregnant for the first time. All animals were already coping with mitigating the hot and suffocating weather, and this new situation put them under more stress. This was not the only problem Jamal Cheema was facing. He was also struggling to find skilled and experienced labour who could meet all the objectives he initially set. Labour shortage affected every aspect of the dairy farm operations like animal health, feeding, animal welfare, and milking. However, the most important was the herd’s physical condition based on all other activities at the farm in the future.
The foremost issue that came to the surface was getting the heifers pregnant. Due to heat stress, heifers were not responding to artificial insemination. It was believed that summer months (heat stress) affected cattle’s productivity and fertility, and the chances of getting them pregnant greatly reduced, which was exactly what was happening at the farm. The number of AI greatly increased compared to the usual number of 2–3 AI per animal on average. The conception rate was very low, which increased the cost of insemination and the animals’ stress. The cost included was the cost of sex semen, administering semen, and the labour involved.
The heifers who got pregnant showed signs of depression, went off feed, and had an elevated heart rate. A few animals could not bear the stress and died of sudden heat shock. However, with the weather improvement, animals returned to their normal behaviour, which alarmed Jamal Cheema for the calving time.
When the weather started to change in May 2017 and heifers entered the critical stage of pregnancy, Jamal Cheema’s concerns and worries became a reality. The heifers were already in the close-up dry period of their pregnancy, and on top of it, the heat stress worsened the state of affairs. Some cows were delivering premature calves, and the situation aggravated when the calves died. The prenatal 1 and postpartum mortality rate was very high at the farm. The calves that survived were underweight with very low immunity and struggled for life. A few cows developed clinical Mastitis due to udder exposure to severe heat. Due to heat stress, animals were non-responsive to any treatment. The consequences of heat stress also appeared during the lactation period, when milk production decreased. Several researchers proved that the herd’s reproductive performance was the key to the production performance of the dairy farm. Jamal was in complete dismay and surprised to see the results of his dairy farm.
The second challenge was the availability of skilled labour to perform different operations at the farm. Although he had some employees at the farm who were available all year round, they had no education and exposure to modern dairy farm practices. He offered lucrative packages to veterinarians, animal husbandry people, milkers, and feed nutritionists to work at his farm. In the beginning, he had no issue hiring all sorts of skilled people at the farm, but after a few months, people started leaving the farm to work on dairy farms located in peri-urban areas. The primary reason was the remoteness of the area and the unavailability of the farm’s family accommodation. The farm did not have a veterinarian for a few months.
Due to the nutritionists’ unavailability, the third biggest challenge Jamal Cheema faced was the right rationing of the feed for animals. As the herd was in different phases of their lactation cycles, the right quantity and quality (nutrients) of feed were very important for the animals’ efficient performance. Although he had a feedstock for a few months in advance, someone had to look after the feed component.
As expert milkers had moved to different peri-urban farms and left behind the staff, who was not completely familiar with the standard operating procedures of milking. They knew little about maintaining a high milk quality, hygiene, and storage life. They were part-timers at the farm and were involved in different other parallel work. It disturbed the timings of milking the animals, milk quality and hygiene, and the farm’s total productivity. It happened several times that cows under treatment (under the influence of antibiotics) were milked along with the healthy cows, which contaminated the entire milk, making it useless.
To reduce the costs and increase the dairy farm’s performance, Jamal hired a veterinarian, Mr Qasim, with a farm management background as a farm manager. It took Mr Qasim a while to align himself and the staff with the set objectives and practices designed for farm operations. When Mr Qasim left the farm, the whole farm management structure collapsed, affecting the cows already under great stress.
The dairy farm was well managed and protected initially, but with time several people had to be hired on a daily/temporary basis when the permanent staff left. This situation brought many problems that included disruptions of farm operations, lack of interest of people in farm performance, low productivity, and even theft of animals.
Considering all the problems and challenges that had surfaced during the farm’s operationalisation, Jamal Cheema was worried about his dairy farm’s future. Issues were lining up one after the other, and Jamal had no clue where to start to resolve them. The first solution that he could think of was to sell all the remaining animals in the local market, but he was afraid no one would buy these animals after knowing the conditions of his dairy farm. Even if someone agreed to buy his herd, the buyer would pay less than the market price. Once he asked a prospective buyer about the price he would offer, the offered price was not even 50% of the animal’s cost.
Jamal’s second option was to replace these animals with the locally raised exotic breed, but there was hardly any such opportunity. Jamal Cheema wondered if he was a failure despite planning and adopting all the best dairy farm practices, and how would he convince any other dairy farmer to buy his herd?
As Jamal Cheema was very passionate about establishing and running a modern dairy farm, he struggled to find a feasible option to continue with this dairy farm. He had worked hard for the last 3–4 years and incurred a lot to make his dairy farm a success. During his stay in Florida, Jamal Cheema visited a few air-conditioned barns where animals were raised completely in-house to save them from the hot and humid summer. Jamal thought about building an air-conditioned shed for the animals, but there were many things to consider before he could even think of making one.
Air-Conditioned Dairy Farms (Barns)
Dairy animals (especially cows) faced a lot of stress in hot and humid summers, resulting in lower reproductive performance and eventually decreased milk production. The common practice of providing cooling fans, mist, and water sprayers in an open shed (termed as cow cooling system) was insufficient to give the animals the required comfort against heat. In very hot and very cold milk-producing countries (the United States, the Netherlands, and New Zealand), a complete automated air-conditioned system (that controlled the barn’s temperature) was provided to the animals. In countries with very hot and humid summers, two types of air-conditioned cooling systems were prevalent, that is, air-based cooling (without evaporation) and water-based cooling (with evaporation) (Daniel, 2018).
The basic operation of both types of cooling systems was tunnel ventilation, where air entered from one side of the stall (barn) and left from the other side with all exhaust fans located at the end, as shown in Figure 2(b). The principle was to create high air velocity in the form of a long tunnel throughout the stall’s length that created a chilling effect inside while removing the animal’s body heat through convection. 2 The exhaust fans located at the front end of the stall removed the heat out of it.
In the evaporative cooling system, evaporative cooling pads were added to the barn’s air inlets side when excessive heat was present in the incoming air, as shown in Figure 3. When the air was pulled inside, it came across water pads first, and excessive heat of air was removed through an evaporation process that lowered the temperature but increased humidity. These systems were gaining popularity in the world with extreme, long, hot and humid summers.
One of the biggest advantages of an air-conditioned barn would be providing comfort against heat, which milking animals required. The cooling effect would improve the cows’ body conditions and boost their reproductive and productive (yield) performance. As the animals were in controlled environments and optimized spaces, animals’ monitoring would require less cost and labour. This included locating diseased animals for segregation and treatment, animals in heat, and animals showing any abnormal behaviour. The milking parlour was adjacent to the facility. The cows had to travel a little distance before milking, which reduced animal stress and improved productivity. All the animals were under one roof; therefore, their protection and safety could be easily ensured (manually and through CCTVs).
For Jamal Cheema, the biggest challenge was the initial cost of installing the air-conditioning system for the remaining animals. Jamal had 136 animals left, including 97 cows and 39 female calves. The average price for selling the complete herd was in the range of PKR. 180,000 to PKR. 200,000 for adult cows and PKR. 20,000 to PKR. 35,000 for young female ones. The sale of a complete herd at that stage could minimize Jamal’s loss. In the case of building an entire air-conditioning system for the remaining animals, he needed to build a facility of at least 400 × 100 × 10 (L × W × H) feet in size. The estimated cost of the facility was PKR. 1,000 per square feet.
Other major costs included labour, feed, and management costs. However, these costs were not going to affect the decision to install an air-conditioning system as the net change of all these costs was not significant. There was a decrease in labour requirements due to the shed’s confined space, where almost all activities could be executed more efficiently than in an open or traditional shed. Also, the milking parlour was adjacent to the shed, and a smaller number of labourers were required to control and manage the animals before and after milking. A number of operations in the air-conditioned shed required almost no labour involvement, including prewashing animals before milking through automated sprinklers, surveillance of the animals through CCTVs for any physical abnormality of animals, and heat detection. Feed wastage was reduced due to properly managed feeding systems and rationing of feed for different animals. However, the management cost increased as all air-conditioned operations needed vigilance and quick response.
The evaporative cooling system used water to remove heat from the air, but at the same time, humidity increased. The increased chilling effect in the barn increased the air humidity proportionally. The rule of thumb was that moisture should not exceed 80% with a water-based cooling system, increasing animals’ distress. This could pose a serious operationalisation problem and might require close monitoring through the expert staff.
Another aspect of such facilities was the proper emergency exits for the cows out of the facility in case of power failure. As soon as the forced ventilation system stopped, the facility’s temperature and suffocation would increase quickly.
This closed facility required a very efficient waste management system for animals’ well-being, labour, and the inside environment. Very high hygiene standards need to be maintained. Due to the system’s complexity, some experts should design and monitor the waste effluent system.
In early September 2017, Jamal discussed the situation with his father, cousin, and close friends with all these options and possibilities in mind. He was advised to sell his herd and start again with the exotic breed raised in the local environment for at least 3 to 4 generations. His friend, Mr Shaukat, offered to help him get such types of cows as he had connections with a few large dairy farms. No one supported his idea of building an air-conditioned dairy farm because no expertise was available for such farms. There was not a single example in the country to follow. Jamal faced strong opposition from all of them, and everyone was against investing a huge sum again without having any surety of its success.
Jamal Cheema, the owner of Cheema Dairy Farms, sat in an air-conditioned room at his farmhouse in Gujranwala near Kalaske village with his cousin and closest friend. All the available options were in front of them, and it was time to decide. Jamal looked at the setting sun through the window. He knew the time was slipping away, and he had to do something soon.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Florida Dairy Facts
Traditional Open Dairy Shed
Different Types of Breed
Comparison Between Holstein and Other Breeds (2015)
| Breed | Milk per Lactation (Litres) | Fat % | Protein % | Somatic Cell Score |
| Holsteins | 11500 | 3.67 | 3.08 | 2.37 |
| Ayrshires | 7000 | 3.94 | 3.19 | 2.57 |
| Brown Swiss | 8700 | 4.16 | 3.42 | 2.47 |
| Guernsey’s | 7200 | 4.63 | 3.38 | 2.93 |
| Jerseys | 8300 | 4.81 | 3.65 | 2.84 |
The Arrival of Holstein Youngstock at Sialkot International Airport (2 March 2016)
Young Stock at Cheema Dairy Farm
Appendix G
Objective 1: To establish the herd with best suited to the environment and resistance to disease to reduce animal stress.
Objective 2: Biosecurity 3 and prevention of diseases
Objective 3: Herd health management system
Objective 4: Use of medicines and chemicals as directed by a veterinarian
Objective 1: Sustainable source of feed, nutrients, and water
Objective 2: Maintaining appropriate and safe Feed storage conditions
Objective 3: Strict Control of Feed Ingredients quality
Objective 1: To ensure animals were free from a search for feed and water and safe from contaminated feed
Objective 2: Providing Comfort to animals
Objective 3: Freeing animals from pain, injury, and disease
Objective 4: Fear free animals
Objective 5: Considering the Socialisation behaviour of animals
Objective 1: Milking routine
Objective 2: Milk and milking hygiene
Objective 3: Milk handling
Objective 1: Environmentally Sustainable Dairy Farming
Objective 2: Waste Management System
Objective 1: Management of Human Resources
Objective 2: Health and Safety of Workers
Objective 3: Financials of the Farm