Cost Analysis of Raising Replacement Dairy Heifers

on 18 and 15 milking and custom heifer operations respectfully. Average number of Holstein heifers was 108.57 and 78.46 for milking and custom heifer operations respectfully. A cost analysis spreadsheet was carried out with an Excel 2003 Microsoft file. The spreadsheet estimated the costs to raise a replacement heifer by specific age classes. The average total cost to raise a replacement heifer for this data set was lower for custom heifers operations compared to milking ones. The findings presented by this study emphasize the importance of understanding the economics of raising replacement dairy heifers on an individual operation basis. KEYWORDS: cost, heifer raising, operation, INTRODUCTION Raising replacement dairy heifers represent a major expense to dairy operations. Due to the nature of replacement heifer management, a dairy operation has to invest feed, labor and capital for 23 to 25 months and sometimes more without receiving any realized benefits

Spatial characteristics to calcium signalling; the calcium wave as a basic unit in plant cell calcium signalling

Many signals that modify plant cell growth and development initiate changes in cytoplasmic Ca(2+). The subsequent movement of Ca(2+) in the cytoplasm is thought to take place via waves of free Ca(2+). These waves may be initiated at defined regions of the cell and movement requires release from a reticulated endoplasmic reticulum and the vacuole. The mechanism of wave propagation is outlined and the possible basis of repetitive reticulum wave formation, Ca(2+) oscillations and capacitative Ca(2+) signalling is discussed. Evidence for the presence of Ca(2+) waves in plant cells is outlined, and from studies on raphides it is suggested that the capabilities for capacitative Ca(2+) signalling are also present. The paper finishes with an outline of the possible interrelation between Ca(2+) waves and organelles and describes the intercellular movement of Ca(2+) waves and the relevance of such information communication to plant development

Effects on milk production in F1 crossbred of Alpine goat breed (♂) and Albanian goat breed (♀)

About 950,000 goats, farmed mostly in hilly and mountainous areas of Albania, contribute about 8% of the country’s total milk production. In order to increase milk production, farmers are currently using crosses of the local goat breed with exotic breeds, mainly the Alpine breed from France. This study examines milk production data of first lactation from 45 goats of the local breed, 82 goats of the Alpine breed and 58 F1 crosses (♂Alpine breed x ♀local breed). The goats were kept on small-scale farms according to the traditional Albanian system. Milking was carried out in the morning and evening. Kids were weaned at 65 days of age after which milking started. Milk yield was recorded twice with a 15-day interval between the two readings. Total milk yield was calculated using the Fleischmann method. The F1 goats produced 37.8 kg more milk than local breed goats although the lactation length (P<0.05) of F1 goats was six days shorter compared to that of local breed goats (P<0.05). Analysis of variance showed a highly significant effect (P<0.01) of the genotype factor on milk production. The average Cappio-Borlino curves of three genotypes indicated that the lactation curves of local breed and F1 crosses were similar. Although the F1 cross goats had 50% of their genomes from a genetically improved breed they were still able to deal with the difficult conditions that characterize the traditional extensive farming systems in Albania. Breeding pure Alpine breed or its crosses with the local goat breed improved milk production in an extensive traditional system