High Value Livestock in Sustainable Rural Landscapes

Marvellous Milk
Improving Victoria's dairy herd

The challenge
Dairy milk contains a range of bioactive compounds, which offer health benefits to young calves and potentially to humans. These high value components could provide the opportunity for valuable new products and industries.

The strategy
To add value to milk production by marketing bioactive compounds. To increase the production of these valuable compounds by selecting and breeding animals based on genetic traits.

The project

• Identify proteins in milk that have bioactivity, including anti-bacterial or anti-inflammatory properties, anti-oxidants and growth factors.
  
  
• Develop technologies to concentrate, extract and market these valuable components.
  
  
• Identify DNA markers that can be used to select cattle that will produce milk with more selenium and unsaturated fat, and less saturated fat and lactose.
  
  
• Identify genes that control the conversion of feed to milk protein, and develop DNA tests to select more productive cattle.