Dairy farming in South Africa is changing on several fronts at once. Machines and digital tools are reshaping daily work, while farmers must also safeguard animal welfare, manage costs and navigate an unsettled market. The passages from The Dairy Mail in 2021 point to a central lesson: progress depends not on adopting technology for its own sake, but on using it to build a sustainable, resilient business across the farm and the wider value chain.
Use technology to manage the herd, not merely to mechanise it
The shift from hand milking to advanced milking machines has already transformed dairy farming; robotic milking is no longer a distant prospect, with South African herds already using robots. The value of these developments extends beyond labour and convenience. Modern milking platforms and machines support consistent product quality, and cooling systems begin protecting milk quality on the farm.
The practical opportunity is to bring information into routine management. Many farms use computer programmes and cellphone applications to oversee production and herd health. Radio-frequency identification tags, pedometers and other computer-based tools can help farmers monitor animals and respond in their day-to-day decisions. The article also points to biogas digesters and solar panels as ways to turn methane and sunlight into electricity, contributing to sustainability. Drones, facial recognition and more applications may add to this toolkit as technology evolves.
The objective remains a wholesome, high-quality product produced sustainably. That means treating technology as a means to improve management and animal care, rather than as an end in itself. The source describes the benefits in broad terms but does not prescribe particular devices or software: the appropriate choice will depend on the farm’s needs and its ability to use the information effectively.
Match production potential with the cow’s needs
Technology cannot compensate for unsuitable conditions. Intensive dairy farming places substantial demands on modern cows: genetic improvement has raised their production potential, and cows are larger on average. The challenge is to create conditions suited to their natural behaviour so that they can express that potential.
That is a practical reminder to link performance goals to welfare and comfort. In its discussion of the November issue, editor Michelle de Lange highlights preparation for a hot South African summer, alongside hoof-care research and welfare considerations in cattle dehorning. The passage also notes that farmers need reliable, scientifically grounded information, and points to climate-smart decision-making as a response to disasters and climate change.
The same whole-herd approach appears in the MPO’s January message. Producers are urged to focus on key performance indicators including nutrition, lameness, mastitis, and metabolic and infectious disease, while reducing antimicrobial use. These are not isolated targets: nutrition, mobility, disease prevention and production interact in the daily management of cows.
Resilience is a value-chain responsibility
Farm performance is also shaped by what happens beyond the farm gate. Looking back on 2020, Dr Chris van Dijk credited basic biosecurity measures with helping the South African dairy industry manage the pandemic relatively well, but warned that biosecurity and biocontainment were not adequately established. Every participant in the supply chain, he argued, needs to contribute to protecting its integrity.
The same interdependence was visible during the July 2021 riots and looting. Milk collection routes were blocked, and producers in KwaZulu-Natal had to discard thousands of litres of fresh milk because the perishable product could not be transported. The account also describes grazing set alight and thanks community members who helped fight fires and protect delivery routes. Resilience, in other words, includes transport access, local cooperation and the capacity to keep the chain functioning—not only on-farm production.
Balance output against margins and market signals
More production is not automatically more income. An MPO analysis described the long-term consequences of the idea that “more milk means more money”: production rose by 4.82% in 2018 while the farm milk price fell by 18%; the price then recovered by 10% in 2019 and 11% in 2020, while production was essentially stagnant in both years. Over the three years from January 2018 to January 2021, nearly 20% of the country’s dairy farmers left the industry. The article’s conclusion was that, in the South African primary dairy sector, the idea is a myth.
The figures underline the need to consider price effects beyond the immediate marginal return. A separate market analysis reported that cumulative milk supply for the first four months of 2021 was 14.6% below 2020 and 12.8% below 2019, amid lower unprocessed milk production and export growth. It said adequate margins could help make up the lower supply, even though the market was out of balance and retail sales had generally declined.
Retail price monitoring offered another part of the picture: during the first nine months of 2021, the cheapest two-litre full-cream milk bottle rose 6.3% compared with the same period in 2020, while the cheapest Cheddar increased 8.7%. The MPO said it was advocating a fair distribution of the consumer rand among the three major value-chain participants. Van Dijk’s January appeal was for stability: do not reduce farm-gate prices in the short to medium term, and do not raise retail prices, while pursuing a longer-term arrangement that could support farmers and maintain stable consumer prices.
Make informed decisions for the long term
The passages offer no single technology or management formula that can secure a dairy farm’s future. Instead, they point to a joined-up discipline: use practical tools to monitor cows and production; create comfortable conditions that respect animal needs; act on health and welfare indicators; plan for climate and biosecurity risks; and evaluate production decisions against margins and market conditions.
The broader message is that dairy resilience is built through partnerships and reliable knowledge. The editor’s account of the 2021 research information day quotes Dr Ilse Trautman stressing that farmers’ partnerships are central to the sector’s survival. Producers, processors, buyers, retailers and communities all have a stake in a system that can deliver quality milk sustainably—and sustain the people who produce it.
Key points
- Adopt technology when it improves practical herd, production, quality or sustainability management.
- Pair production potential with cow comfort, natural behaviour, hoof care and attention to disease indicators.
- Treat biosecurity, transport access and community cooperation as parts of supply-chain resilience.
- Judge additional milk against longer-term margins and the distribution of value across the chain.
- Use reliable, science-based knowledge and partnerships to make climate-aware decisions.