News

SELECTED DAIRY-RELATED NEWS UPDATES

Upcoming meetings:

The 2026 annual meeting of the American Dairy Science Association will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA (June 21 - 24).

The 2026 annual meeting of the NZ Institute of Food Science and Technology will be held Auckland, New Zealand (June 30 - July 2).

New insights in milk synthesis and secretion:

At the latest Biology of Lactation of Farm Animals (BOLFA) meeting, held in Bern, Switzerland, Dr Kerst Stelwagen (SciLactis) presented an overview of the role of the blood-milk barrier in milk production:

Stelwagen, K. 2025. Invited review: Hormonal control of the mammary blood-milk barrier and its role in establishing and maintaining milk production. Journal of Dairy Research 92: 4-11.

Extended lactation in dairy cows:

The concept of extended lactation where cows are milked longer than the traditional 305 days is becoming more popular as production levels increase. In addition, it means fewer calves will be born and need to be culled at a young age. However, there are different challenges for high-input and pastured-based farming systems, as recently reviewed by SciLactis and DairyNZ:

Stelwagen, K., J. B. Pinxterhuis, S. J. Lacy-Hulbert and C. V. C. Phyn. 2024. Invited review: A review of extended lactation in dairy cows managed in high-input and pasture-based farming systems. Animal Production Science 64: AN24167.