BrightAnimal Internal Report

Milk production in Malaysia

Dr Heiner Lehr, FoodReg

Kum Wah Chang, DVS

1 Introduction

Malaysia is a country in South East Asia with a multi-ethnic population (Malays,

Chinese and Indians being the main ethnic communities). In total about 28m
people live in West (Peninsular) Malaysia and East Malaysia (states of Sabah
and Sarawak) in the island of Borneo.

Malaysia is also home to about 900,000 cattle1, with large populations in the
northern state of Kelantan (141,502) and in the southern state of Johor
(111,000). Of these cattle only about 4% are dairy cattle.

1
Data from 2008. Src: DVS

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 Given the dietary customs in the country per capita consumption is much lower
in Malaysia than e.g. the average of the EU25 countries.

Table 1 Per Capita Consumption of Milk and Milk Products in Various Countries, 2006 data. Src.
International Dairy Federation and DVS.

Country Liquid Milk Equivalent (Litres)

Finland 183.9
Sweden 145.5
Ireland 129.8
Netherlands 122.9
Norway 116.7
Spain (2005) 119.1
Switzerland 112.5
United Kingdom (2005) 111.2
Australia (2005) 106.3
Canada (2005) 94.7
Germany 92.3
France 92.2
New Zealand (2005) 90.0
United States 83.9
Austria 80.2
Greece 69.0
Argentina (2005) 65.8
Italy 57.3
Mexico 40.7
China (2005) 8.8
European Union (25 countries) 92.6
Malaysia 42.5

Total milk consumption in Malaysia adds up to about 1000m litres per annum. In
order to satisfy this demand, Malaysia produces about 56m litres of milk, which
is equivalent to a self-sufficiency index of about 5%. The rest of the milk is
imported, notably from Australia.

Malaysia : Penggunaan Susu, 1999-2008

Malaysia : Milk Consumption, 1999-2008
1,500
(Juta Liter/ Mil. Litres)

1,000

500

0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Figure 1 Total milk consumption in Malaysia. Src: DVS

Milk production is to some extent government assisted. The government

operates Milk Collection Centres (MCC) or Dairy Industry Service Centres
(PPIT in the Malay acronym) which collect a large part of the produced milk for
sale to large dairy processing plants.

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The price for fresh milk at these Service Centres is fixed currently at about
0.44EUR for Grade AA milk. This is considerably higher than e.g. in the UK
(average for 2009: 0.27EUR2) or Germany where milk prices touched briefly
0.22EUR in July 20093.

Table 2 DVS milk price structure for farmers

Grade Specification Base price TPC Volume Total

(RM/l) incentives incentives price
(RM/l)
AA TPC < 200,000 cfu/ml 1.85 0.1 0.05 2.00
TDS > 13%
A TPC < 200,000 cfu/ml 1.75 0.1 0.05 1.90
TDS 11.75-12.99%
A- TPC 0.2-0.5 mil cfu/ml 1.35 0.00 0.05 1.40
TDS 11.75-12.99%

Large dairy processing plants like Dutch Lady and Susu Lembu Asli have
started to purchase their milk directly from farms at competitive prices. The
reason this has not happened earlier is the structure of agricultural holdings.
Most dairy farms are to be considered smallholders (less than 30 breeders).
The Kluang PPIT for example is serviced by about 20 farms with 6-10 heads
and only one farm with over a hundred heads.

Table 3 Dairy farm structure in 2008. Src: DVS

Number of Number of farms %

breeders
Smallholders <30 519 89.6
Semi-commercial 30-50 32 5.5
Commercial >50 28 4.8

Production of milk in tropical countries is complicated by both genetic and

climatic factors. Local breeds like the Kedah-Kelantan (KK) that are readily
available do not yield a high amount of milk; KK is actually not a dairy breed.
Imported Friesians and Jerseys with higher yield are expensive to buy (about
1,300-1,600EUR per head). An attempt to resolve this situation is the
development of the tropicalised synthetic breed named “Mafriwal” by
crossbreeding of Sahiwal and Friesian breeds4.

2
Src: http://www.dairyco.org.uk/datum/milk-prices-and-contracts/farmgate-prices/uk,-gb-and-ni-
farmgate-prices.aspx
3
Src: http://www.landwirtschaft-mlr.baden-wuerttemberg.de/servlet/PB/menu/1064526_l1/index.html
4
See Palani, Kalaiselvi (2004) Genetic Characterisation Of Mafriwal Dairy Cattle Of Malaysia Using
Quantitative And Molecular Methods. PhD thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia, PhD thesis.

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Traceability data about imported cattle is not generally available. Farmers
having bought animal of a particular breed (and paid the respective premium for
premium breeds) do not get any assurance that the animal they receive is
actually of the breed they paid for.

The availability of traceability information, especially genetic records, would

greatly help farmers to ascertain the breed of their animals and avoid any
misunderstandings.

Table 4Milk yields in different countries

Country Reported yields [l/lactation or year] Source

Malaysia 2631.3 DVS, 2008 data
Central Thailand ca. 3500 (average over 520 first Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 43 : 74 -
lactation cows) 82 (2009)
ca. 4100 (for breeds including Friesian)
Australia 5750 dairyaustralia.com, 2008/9 data
United Kingdom 8202 DEFRA, 2008/2009
United Kingdom 8202 (national average) Centre for Diary Information,
8705 (Holstein only) Breed Performance Statistics
6827 (Friesian only) 2007
Germany 6628 Statistisches Bundesamt, 2008
data

While clearly climate and breed play a very important role, the Malaysian
average production efficiency is relatively low.

There are several issues and challenges identified for Malaysian dairy
production
• Inefficient feeding system and high feed prices
• Prices of imported dairy cattle from Australia and New Zealand are high
• Keeping of heifers is not lucrative for farmers
• Land issues
o Competition for available agricultural land and considerations for the
best returns for land utilisation.
o Approval process for Government land reserves may take too long
although it is not so for private land transactions
o Some Government land reserves are not suitable for dairy farming
• Investors with inadequate knowledge on dairy farming and the lack of skilled
labour
• Diligence in breeding management may be a problem

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2 Evidence of Precision Livestock Farming
In general, the farms and operations that we were able to visit didn’t show any
sign of precision methods being used to assist in the operation.

Figure 2 Veterinary Institute, DVS, Kluang, the very experienced dairy herd manager of
the farm Malike (left) and his assistant Saiful Adli.

The exception was a state-owned and DVS run dairy farm in Kluang, which also
serves as a training facility for young veterinarians and veterinary assistants.

Figure 4 A cow with its transponder Figure 3Lactation graph shown in DeLaval's ALPRO
system

The dairy unit on the farm is run by DVS personnel, most notable the very
experienced Mr Malike. Mr Malike introduced a DeLaval milking system earlier.

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Cows are individually identified by RFID necklaces and their performance
measured.

When cows walk into the milking parlour, they are identified using antennae at
the entry by sequence (first cow to first milking machine, etc).

A software tool by DeLaval assists the farm manager by pointing out

irregularities in the milk yield (per cow). The system also assists the manager in
reminding him of specific actions to be taken for individual animals. The system
allows e.g. for the detection of heat, potential health problems and for the
calculation of individualised feed.

Table 5 Reports offered by the Alpro system

Milk records Parlour information & Cow traffic Automatic milking

control control controls
- Milk yield recording - Programmable cow status - Cutter gates - Automatic take-off
indicators
- Peak milk flow rate - Parlour gates - Flow controlled
- Programmable remind milking
- Average flow rate codes - Crowd gates
- Electronic pulsation
- Duration of milking - Low yield alarm
per cow
- Feed intake
- Duration of milking
session

On the DVS farm in Kluang, milk yield was the main monitored parameter.
There is currently no individualised or grouped feeding, while temperature
measurements are carried out manually on selected animals. Recently, a
closed-circuit camera (visual and infra-red) was installed by Telekom Malaysia

Figure 5 Telekom Malaysia infrared and visual camera

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for testing on its use for cattle surveillance in the cattle shed. Mr. Malike had
reported its usefulness in providing him the facility to remotely monitor the
animals where the visuals can be accessed through the broadband internet.

Animal feed was produced on farm and monitored for protein contents.
However, animals were currently not fed individually or in feeding groups. We
have not observed that on other farms either.

Asked for “killer applications” of precision methods in livestock farming, Mr

Malike clearly identified
• Individualised recording of the lactation status (i.e. how many days into
lactation)
• Heat detection
• Identification of best breeders

In general, in Malaysia there is potential for precision methods in

• Increase of milk yield through climate control
• Increase of milk yield through individualised lactation control (right feed at the
right time)

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3 Health and welfare

Animal health is the primary focus of the Department of Veterinary Sciences

(DVS) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries (MoA). The
health officers of DVS vaccinate animals, inspect animals before movement
between states and animals imported into the country, issue health certificates
for movement permits and slaughter (beef cattle) and carry out routine blood
tests for specific cattle diseases.

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is an important challenge in Peninsular

Malaysia, with Brucellosis coming in second place. Sabah and Sarawak are
declared zones free of FMD and the Malaysian government would like to extend
that to the whole of Malaysia by 2015. In order to aid in achieving this, Malaysia
operates a strict quarantine system where imported cattle needs to be observed
mainly for FMD for 10 days. Only after a final inspection by DVS, animals are
allowed entry and subsequent interstate movement of cattle require movement
permits and health certificates. Quarantine stations are either state run or
privately run.

Malaysia has animal welfare legislation and a special interest group (SIG) in the
local Veterinary Association of Malaysia (VAM). There are local non-
governmental organisations (NGOs) on animal welfare including consumer
associations. The NGOs touch mainly on pet animals and do not place so much
emphasis on food animals.

DVS promotes good animal husbandry practices (GAHP) in a programme to

accreditate farms (Sistem Amalan Ladang Ternakan or SALT). This
accreditation includes some animal welfare requirements.

Unlike in Europe, local consumers are yet to be concerned for animal welfare
under livestock production.

Animal welfare problems, such as lameness, are well-known issues in cattle

farming and on the farms that were visited, lame and sick cattle are usually
separated from the rest. Animals with Mastitis are separately hand-milked and
their milk is not used for human consumption.

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 Figure 6 Cow shed, here for beef cattle in Kelantan

Cows are kept in open sheds with roofs over the feeding area which provides
partial shadow. Water access is ad libitum while feed is usually supplied at fixed
times of the day. We have not observed any fanning systems to reduce heat.

Transport is typically handled in open trucks.

Figure 7 Cattle transport from Thailand into Malaysia

Due to the relatively low cost of labour on the farms in Malaysia, there is
generally no need to detect health or welfare problems automatically as the
farm workers are able to identify problems with the herd as they come into
contact with the animals everyday5.

5
Indeed, a larger pig farmer in Sarawak held great reserves when questioned about PLF. He felt that it
was cruel to animals not to have enough personnel to observe all animals at least on a daily basis.

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4 Identification of animals and evidence of traceability
Animal identification is mainly linked to movements, be it by
importing animals or by moving animals between states. For
intrastate movements no identification is required in the
existing system but will become a requirement with the
implementation of unique IDs through RFID tagging in the
future.

On a recent initiative of the Director General of DVS, all

imported animals need to be tagged with RFID ear tags. At
about RM10 or 2.16EUR or above per ear tag this has cost
implications on the importing business, especially the beef
business where a 300kg animal is worth about RM1200.
Cheaper alternatives, using recycled tags may be a good
alternative.

Figure 8 Manual RFID The RFID tags are ICAR and ISO compliant and contain a
reader
manufacturer code (of the chip) and a serial number.

There are plans to RFID tag animals on health inspections before interstate
movements. This would increase the number of tagged animals significantly.

A DVS project on RFID tagging of farm animals was interrupted due to a lack in
funds. It is hoped that the project can be resurrected when the 10th Malaysia
Plan is in effect. In addition, a private initiative pilot was carried out in Kelantan
which allowed the DVS to study the specifications and to plan for its future
implementation.

In general the pilot study went well and a few issues were identified and
resolved. The incorporation of RFID tagging to interstate animal movement had
helped to isolate a case of fraudulent animal movement and even helped to
traceback a case of FMD that developed from the imported animals.

However, there a number of inherent issues that are more difficult to resolve
such as the high price of the overall system. There are also cases where the
farmers are reluctant to have their animals tagged due to their religious believes
regarding damaging the ears of the cattle. The religious issue was overcome
with the issueance of a declaration by religious leaders in support of ear-
tagging.

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However, current practice in Malaysia is tagging with plastic tags that have a
company internal coding. Some of these coding schemes use significant coding
(such as parents or year of breed) and may be difficult to abandon.

Figure 9 RFID ear tag and plastic tag from Thailand with serial number

While Malaysia does not operate a full traceability system of cattle (such as the
German or the Dutch system) the following systems are in place
• Premise registration system: an electronic system which assigns unique IDs to
all cattle premises and link those IDs to basic data (including address, owner
and accreditation for Good Farming Practices)
• Interstate movement permit system: an electronic system to issue movement
permits. At this point in time, the animal needs to be identified and movements
will be recorded.

Other traceability initiatives are of a more localised nature. The PPIT in

Kelantan does have paper based records to give basic traceability of their
products. Since milk is a very fast moving product and tanks need to be cleared
and cleaned very regularly, mixing in tanks is not as important an issue as in
other commodities.

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5 Appendix: the cow’s lactation cycle
The production cycle or between calving cycle (BCC) is the period in a cow's life
between the birth of one calf and her next calf. The recommended objectives for
BCC is an average period of 365 days and that a cow should never have a BCC
of less than 330 days, 90% of 330 to 400 days and less than 10% a BCC of
more than 400 days.
The lactation period is from calving until the cow has dried up and the period in
which the cow produces milk. This period is usually 300 to 305 days (43 weeks)
with limits of 265 to 340 days (38 to 49 weeks). The length of the lactation
period depends on the open period and the production level.
The open period (OP) is the period between calving and re-conception. This
period depends on the voluntary waiting period and the breeding period. This
period is an average of 85 days (12 weeks), with limits of 45 days to 120 days
(seven to 17 weeks).
The voluntary waiting period (VWP) is the minimum time the farmer decides to
allow between calving and the first covering - usually 45 to 60 days. Breeding
before 60 days (eight weeks) after calving is not recommended. If the VWP is
less than 60 days, it must at least not be less than 45 days and the cows must
be clean and on heat for the second time.
The breeding period (BP) is the open period minus the VWP (BP = OP - VWP),
in other words, the time from the end of the VWP to conception. The length of
this period depends on the number of coverings per conception and the number
of times that the cow was on heat.

Figure 10 Lactation patterns for different breeds in central Thailand. Src: Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.)
43 : 74 - 82 (2009).

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 The gestation period is from conception to calving and is usually 280 days to
285 days. It varies slightly between different breeds and is also dependant on
the gender of the calf, but for practical purposes it can be taken as 280 days (40
weeks).
The dry period is the period from the time of lactation until the cow calves again.
It is usually 56 days (objective is 45 to 57 days) calculated from the conception
date, in other words, conception date plus 224 days gives the date on which the
cow must be dried up.
Low producers, cows who have been sick or cows with extended coverings
(open periods) can possibly reach uneconomical low levels of production before
56 days from when the next calf can be expected and therefore have dry
periods of longer than 56 days. The length of the gestation period is also
variable and may not be exactly 280 days, with the result that the length of the
dry period varies with approximately a week.
The dry period is necessary to allow a cow time to replenish her body reserves,
especially minerals which were depleted during the lactation period and also to
give the udder tissue a chance to compress and renew before the next
lactation. A dry period of less than 45 days will be detrimental to the next
lactation period.
During the pre-calving period, about six weeks before the expected calving
date, the cow can receive additional fodder to replenish her body reserves to
ensure that she is in good condition when she calves (the cow must not be
over-conditioned) and that her rumen micro-organisms are adapted for power
fodder.
(Src: Agricultural research council, South Africa)

6 Acknowledgments
This report is based on visits executed in January/February 2010 in the states
of Kelantan, Johor and Sarawak. KW Chang of DVS (Ministry of Agriculture and
Agribased Industry) organised site visits and meetings with officials.

We would like to acknowledge gratefulness to Dr. Abu Hassan, Director of the

Research Division of DVS for his friendly support. The input of the different
people we met during the field visits was extremely helpful in drawing up this
report.

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