By Yang Yuan-ting and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
After two years of negotiations, Taiwan is to export breeding cattle for the first time after the Philippines approved imports on Friday last week, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said yesterday.
The cattle are Holsteins, a dairy breed traditionally raised in temperate climates that Taiwan has selectively bred to thrive in hot, humid conditions while maintaining high milk production, the Livestock Research Institute said.
Originating in the Netherlands and the German-Danish border region, Holsteins are renowned for their high milk yields. In tropical parts of Asia, farmers have traditionally relied more on the indigenous cattle and heat-tolerant zebu breed, which generally produces less milk, but are better adapted to local conditions.
Dairy cattle are pictured at a farm in Tainan in an undated photograph.
Photo: Taipei Times
Crossbreeding with specialized dairy breeds has helped improve milk production while retaining some heat tolerance.
Taiwan applied to export breeding cattle to the Philippines in 2024, and Philippine officials inspected local farms in November that year.
In May last year, Manila approved Mei-gui Ranch in Tainan and Ho-sheng Ranch in Changhua County for live cattle exports, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency Deputy Director-General Fu Hsueh-li (傅學理) said.
The two sides negotiated animal health requirements for export quarantine certificates, with assistance from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines, Fu said.
The Philippines, which produces less than 5 percent of its domestic milk needs, is seeking to develop its dairy industry and has looked to Taiwan for cattle suited to the hot, humid conditions shared by the two island economies, Livestock Research Institute Director Huang Chen-fang (黃振芳) said.
Taiwan’s success in adapting Holsteins to tropical conditions while maintaining milk production is a major milestone for its dairy industry, Huang said.
The institute also hopes to export automated equipment, including farm-management robots, to the Philippines, he added.