The study was carried out in order to obtain new knowledge about the current state of dairy
cattle breeding. We obtained the results of the monitoring of dairy cattle, gross milk production,
milk production per capita, average milk yield per cow per year in the countries of the world,
Russia and the Vologda Oblast. It is noted that dairy cattle breeding is one of the leading sectors
of animal husbandry that provides people with the most important food. Milk, dairy products
and meat account for 49.7% of the share of livestock products in the Russian Federation.
The leading countries for the production of milk are Asian countries, which produce 39.3% of
the total volume of milk in the world. As of 2014, the most numerous populations of dairy cattle,
according to Rosstat, are in India – 297 million head, in Brazil – 214 million head, and in
China – 141 million head. The leaders in the gross production of cow milk in the world are the
USA and India (91.3 and 60.6 million tons, respectively). The highest milk production per capita
for 2014 is registered in New Zealand (3,467.9 kg), Ireland (1,205 kg), and Denmark (852.9
kg). The leading countries in terms of milk yield per cow per year are Israel (11,038 kg), the Republic
of Korea (10,160 kg) and the USA (9,902 kg). In the Russian Federation, as of the end of
2014, there were 19.3 million head of cattle in farms of all categories; gross production of cow
milk was 30.5 million tons; average milk yield per cow was 4,134 kg per year. As of 2016, milk
production per capita in Russia amounted to 239 kg, which is lower than the standard by 86 kg.
The Vologda Oblast belongs to Russian regions with the most developed dairy cattle breeding.
During 2012-2017, gross milk production increased by 54.7 thousand tons and average milk
yield per cow - from 5524 to 6916 kg per year. Cattle breeding farms in the region introduce
innovative milking technology such as a robotic voluntary milking system. Further development
of the dairy cattle industry in the oblast is conducted in accordance with the state program of
development of agriculture and consumer market of the Vologda Oblast for 2013–2020. The
theoretical and methodological framework of the study includes works by domestic researchers.
General scientifi c research methods (monographic, statistical, visualization, etc.) are used. The
new knowledge will serve as a basis for innovative research for further development of domestic
dairy cattle breeding
Keywords
dairy cattle, livestock, gross milk production, milk yield per cow