Better Cows for Africa

A recent trip to Australia sparked Bill Gates' interest in improving milk production in Africa. He writes about his discoveries, problems, and what might be done at team@gatesnotes.com.

It is staggering to find cows on US dairy farms produce nearly 30 liters of milk every day compared to the 1.69 liters produced by an average Ethiopian cow.  While sending Wisconsin cows to Ethiopia would expose them to tropical heat and disease, using artificial insemination to crossbreed an Ethiopian cow with bull semen from a genetic line that produces lots of milk could increase milk output. In the heat of Africa, the required task of keeping frozen semen frozen is not easy, however.

To read more about worldwide milk consumption and production, see the earlier post, "Dairy Cows on the Moove." The magazine,  Hoard's Dairyman (hoards.com), published by Hoard's dairy farm in Wisconsin, USA, has been an authority on the dairy industry since 1885. National and international subscribers can choose to receive print or digital copies.

  Qatar is showing how, out of necessity and under the right conditions, Holstein dairy cows can be moved successfully from Wisconsin to another country to provide milk and breed. After being accused of financing Muslim extremists, Iran, and the Muslim Brotherhood; and being told to stop broadcasts from its al-Jazeera news network; Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emerates, Bahrain, and Egypt imposed sanctions on June 5, 2017 that amounted to a blockade of Qatar's imports. Using riches from its natural gas exports, the Irish CEO of Qatar's Baladna farm complex began airlifting 300 cows to a warehouse in the desert north of Doha. Another 14,000 are expected by next year.

Throughout the world, food shortages and poor nutrition are causing countries to search for other new agricultural solutions. Some of these methods are mentioned in the earlier post, "Exotic Farming."

Russia Continues to Live in the Past

News of Russia's training for military operations and plans for oil drilling in the Arctic indicate Moscow continues to stake its future on aggression and wealthy oligarchs. Neither will stem volatile oil prices, which dropped to the $43-$44 a barrel range June 26-27, 2017, or unlock the sanctions, imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, that block the import of drilling and fracking equipment needed to exploit the Arctic's oil and gas.

Nor, it seems, is Russia positioning itself to take advantage of the new commercial Northwest Passage opportunities climate change brings to the Arctic Ocean, such as voyages of cruise ships like the Crystal Serenity that carried 1,700 passengers and crew from Alaska to New York in the summer of 2016.

To catch up on the race for the Arctic, see the earlier posts, "North Pole Flag" and "Iceland Gives China the Cold Shoulder."