At the Vale Encantado farm, in the Patagonia Settlement, located in Terenos, Mato Grosso do Sul; vmilk producer Izidoro Tomaz da Silva, 74, celebrates the good result of Fixed Time Artificial Insemination (FTAI) performed in his herd. The procedures were performed during the first round of FTAI of the Cooplaf Leite Project held in March by the Instituto BioSistemico (IBS) team.
“Three cows became pregnant out of the five that were inseminated. It is a very good result, even more so if we consider that we are facing a period of drought in our region, which does not favor the herd”, says the producer.
Izidoro is one of the 100 producers served by IBS in the Cooplaf Leite Project. In the recent round of reproductive management care held in the second half of May, he made a point of closely monitoring the pregnancy diagnosis that revealed the three pregnant cows.
While the producer fixed his eyes on the screen of the ultrasound device, the IBS consultant, veterinary doctor Renata Alves, explained the images to him. “Seu Izidoro was all joy following the exam. It's nice to see the enthusiasm of the producers with each pregnancy identified”, says the veterinarian.
Importance of Mineral Salt
According to Renata, a good FTAI result depends on a series of factors, mainly nutrition and mineralization, which directly interfere with the balance of the animal's organism. The use of white salt, for example, is a factor that does not favor the health of the herd, as it has no minerals, only sodium and chlorine in the composition.
“White salt does not supplement the deficiencies of macro and microminerals, which are essential for productive and reproductive functions. Mineral deficiency can cause various problems related to reproduction, such as reduced fertility, miscarriage, birth of weak or dead calves and retained placenta. It causes a drop in the animal's immunity, which predisposes it to other pathologies, in addition to reducing milk production and quality”, explains the IBS consultant.
She points out that, instead of white salt, mineral salt should be used as a supplement for cattle, as it aims to complement the deficiencies of pastures and concentrate that are not sufficient to meet these requirements. Renata adds that mineral salt is rich in elements such as calcium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, sulfur, cobalt, iodine, selenium, chlorine and sodium. Each element has a specific function in the body and in the digestion of nutrients.
“We try to pass this information on to producers to make them aware of the importance of replacing white salt with mineral salt. We have observed that many producers have already stopped using white salt and are starting to offer mineral salt to cattle”, says the veterinarian.
Aware of the importance of mineral salt for cows, producer Izidoro has not used white salt for the herd at Chácara Vale Encantado for many years. “I strive to offer quality mineral salt for cattle and I think this investment is worth it. White salt costs less, but when it comes to results, the cheap can be expensive”, teaches the experienced producer.
About the project
The Cooplaf Leite Project was conceived by the Instituto BioSistêmico with the main objective of promoting the development of dairy farming among the cooperative members of the Cooperativa Agrícola Mista da Pecuária de Corte e Leiteira and Agricultura Familiar (Cooplaf), an entity headquartered in the municipality of Terenos, in state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Center-West region of Brazil.
Executed by IBS, the initiative has the support of resources from the Zoetis Foundation and the Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises (Sebrae) in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.It also receives institutional and academic support from Unimar – University of Maríl
This is another livestock project carried out by the Instituto BioSistêmico that uses the CheckMilk methodology, which has a platform with a management system and application for technical teams and producers. The system facilitates project management and the application helps the producer on a daily basis, as an extension of the IBS consultancy that can be accessed at any time in the palm of the hand.
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