Breeding plan for commercial dairy goat production systems in southern Brazil

Commercial small dairy goat producers, exploiting European breeds and selling fluid milk, concentrate in the southeastern and southern States of Brazil. They are in need to access improved germplasm due to government regulations banning imports of living material. This paper reports the actions taken, the difficulties encountered and the preliminary results of a Dairy Goat Breeding Plan started in 2005 by EMBRAPA Goats and Sheep, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food and the Association of Goats and Sheep Breeders of Minas Gerais States. The plan's objective was to address the needed access to improved germplasm claimed by farmers, through conducting progeny tests. Participatory and community work took place to organize/implement the plan. A professional milk recording institution was recruited by farmers to collect individual milk records in the associated farms where bucks are progeny-tested. Selection criteria mainly designed to respond to the market demand, focused on milk yields, lactation lengths and reproductive characteristics. Twenty bucks of Saanen, French Alpine and Anglo-Nubian breeds are being tested through artificial insemination in 22 herds. Until August 2010, the databank contained 7872 milk test days. The averages for total milk yield in a complete lactation, milk yield in 305 days of lactation, lactation length and average daily yield were 768±16kg, 676±10kg, 278±4 days and 2.75±0.01kg/day, respectively. Herd effects were found important (P<0.01) with a wide range of averages in milk production which justifies well the progeny test to suit germplasm for also a wide range of environments. Breed effects were also important in differentiating total milk yields in a complete lactation (P<0.01) with Saanen goats having significantly greater yields than Alpine and crossbred goats. Linear and quadratic age effects were significant in changing milk yields. The establishment and implementation of the plan confronted difficulties that were not insurmountable and offered important lessons learned and recommendations for similar engagements for smallholder dairy goat production systems elsewhere. These included: (1) careful identification and involvement of stakeholders considering the enabling conditions needed and sustainability, (2) engagement, whenever possible, of organized and trusted systems for data collection with a long-term projection. Avoid organizations/persons distrusted by farmers, (3) consider the sustainability of the plan from inception and policy development to this end, (4) while designing the selection objectives and criteria, consider not only traits that respond to market trends, but also traits that farmers judge as important.