Many Water Buffalo Farms in the USA struggle to be profitable while those in Europe appear to be successful. When Fading D Farm was established, we determined to understand the reason for this. It quickly became clear that it was a simple math problem. The average Buffalo here was giving 6-7lb of milk per day while those in Italy were averaging 16 lb/day or more (8.6lb/gallon).  Less than half the milk per animal means that input cost per gallon were twice what our European counterparts were experiencing.

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After working several years to try to improve production through optimizing feed and animal care it became apparent that what we lacked was quality genetic makeup. Beginning in the late 1940s a great effort was made in Italy to improve the productivity of Water Buffalo in their country. Due to the rarity of Buffalo in America however, there was never the same pressure to allow Buffalo to achieve their full potential as milk producers.

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To benefit from the gains that had already been achieved by this effort, Fading D Farm concentrated on obtaining semen from Italy. Selecting the bulls with the greatest potential for improving milk production in their offspring. These sires were not only highly ranked in improving milk volume but also milk quality(butter fat and protein). We then undertook a program of Artificial Insemination(AI) only for breeding to produce the greatest number of genetically improved Buffalo in the shortest time. 

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Since it takes almost four years from the first breeding until the first offspring are milked it is a slow process. However, it has been rewarding as we have achieved an increase of 70% in our herd average for milk production so far. Additionally, we observe a marked improvement in both body and udder conformity even in the first generation. The value of the additional milk production has more than covered the increased cost per calf produced that we incurred with this program. 

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Because of our aggressive breeding schedule we are now able to offer some of these improved Water Buffalo with other farms as we continue to selectively breed our best AI offspring with the best bulls.

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All of our calves are hand fed so are very people oriented and friendly. All calves are also halter trained for ease of handling and improved behavior in the milking parlor. 

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Although bred for milk production, these animals also serve well as dual use animals for milk and protein as well as just for pets.