Dairy production performances and characteristics in six specialised units in Morocco

Abstract

Performances and conditions of intensive dairy production in Morocco were studied in six herds during five years (from 1991 to 1996). Results show the importance of land surface (244.8 ha) and number of dairy cows (53.1) in comparison to the average of the country. Forages occupy less than 8 % of the total area. Production performances (6016 kg of milk per cow per year) were satisfactory. Concentrates represent 73.1% of the total supply of energy. An adequate interval between calvings (391.0 days) was noted whereas the age at first calving was late (30.2 months). The analysis of dairy production characteristics revealed that production performances were highly correlated to the input of concentrates per cow, but concentrates consumption per kg of milk produced decreased with an increased milk yield. Reproduction was only influenced by the effects of annual climatic variations. These observations confirm the importance of management and environmental conditions (feeding, climate, production unit) on dairy cows performances, and illustrate the most common trends in today’s dairy units in Morocco, based on the conversion of concentrates to high quality proteins.