Cattle Production

Research work

Research is performed in the fields of:

  • genotype-environment interaction,
  • heat stress,
  • slaughter quality of bulls,
  • longevity of cows,
  • forecasting the evaluation of culling discount,
  • the evaluation of daily quantity of produced milk based on a single milking and
  • forecasting and modelling lactation curves.

We study the measurement uncertainty in the control of milk production and the effects on the production, and we participate in analysing the efficacy of selective breeding programmes.

Expert Work

We perform expert tasks in cattle production based on the adopted Common Basic Breed Improvement Programme in Animal Production and agreements for performing expert tasks with the Recognised breeders’ Organisations in Cattle Production (Association of Societies of Simmental Breed Cattle Producers, Slovenian Association of Brown Breed Cattle Producers, Society of Holstein-Friesian Breed Cattle Producers, Slovenian Society of Beef Cattle Breeds Producers, Association of Producers of Indigenous Slovenian Cika Cattle). The work is performed at the national level, and the tasks are carried out in cooperation with the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia and its regional institutes, with the Biotechnical Faculty and the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, with the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences of the University of Maribor and with ŽIPO Lenart.

The most important tasks performed by the Animal Production Department of the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia are:

  • management, maintenance and development of the Govedo (Cattle) information system,
  • management of the Govedo Central Database (CPZ) with various registers and code tables (registers of breeding bulls, dams, producers, etc.),
  • management of the central lineage and herd books for cattle,
  • implementation and management of the supervision of milk and meat production,
  • processing and providing data from the Govedo Central Database to producers and other users (preparation of data for the requirements of forecasting culling discount, research tasks, for supporting management on farms and for other purposes),
  • providing data to various governmental services (Animal Identification and Registration Service, Agency of the RS for Rural Development and Agricultural Markets etc.),
  • verifying the origin,
  • issuing zootechnical documents,     
  • performing selective breeding tasks (testing, assessment and selection of breeding animals),
  • performing various measures for ensuring the expansion of genetic progress,
  • preparation of catalogues on bulls and other publications, participating in exhibitions and in promotions,
  • performing various development tasks,
  • participation in preparing and coordinating breeding programmes, annual implementation programmes and others.

The GOVEDO information system (http://www.govedo.si) enables approximately 4000 cattle producers to monitor production characteristics, reproduction and quality of milk at the level of individual dairy cows and at the level of farms. Other users (consultants, policy planners, local communities, breeding organisations, researchers, students, pupils, food processing industry, etc.) can access the data about the conditions and trends in the production of milk on various levels.