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Is Marge the low-fat cow spin or breakthrough?

Any dairy farmer whose herd is recorded - the quality and composition of each cow's milk being sampled monthly and tested for constituents - will tell you that the milk yield and composition between individual cows is quite considerable. This is despite efforts over the past 100 years or so to eliminate the traits we don't want, and over this time the needs of the milk buyer has been for a high quantity of fat and protein. It's this which provides the processor with constituents of butter, cheese and other dairy products. So cows producing milk low in fats have been regarded as poor performers. This means they are not used to breed herd replacements. High butter fat has, over the years, the decades, been one of the criteria used by farmers when doing their breeding selection.

Today's needs are different to those of even ten years ago. Low fat milk is now preferred, and is easily produced by removing a proportion of the fat in standard milk. This goes into other dairy products, and the farmer is paid for the fat as well as protein in the milk he supplies.

Now it looks like the New Zealanders are wanting to create something new. They want to have milk which is naturally low in fat, and they have found Marge. She's the cow which scientists working at the New Zealand co-operative Fonterra’s research subsidiary ViaLactia Biosciences have identified a low fat producing cow, and is described by them as being unique.

ViaLactia's Dr Snell says Marge is a normal cow in every other way, except for her low fat milk production. Their chief scientist Russell Snell explains: “Marge is unique because a natural variation in her genetic makeup reduces the amount of fat in her milk. Her milk is also reduced in saturated fatty acids and higher in omega 3 fatty acids, while butter made from her milk is spreadable straight from the fridge.”

The company is quick to point out the potential benefits to their shareholders “She has passed on this unique trait to some of her offspring, which means these descendants may be able to be used more widely for the benefit of all Fonterra’s shareholders in the future.”

Marge has given ViaLactica world-wide air-time.

Maybe there's a Marge on your list of cows to cull - one whose fat percentage is always dreadful, what ever the diet. She never told you about her omega 3.