The National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Data Bank (NAGRC&DB) is using selective breeding, pedigree management, performance recording and improved nutrition to develop a high-milk-yielding population of pure Ankole cattle at Nshaara Conservation Ranch in Kiruhura District.
The programme seeks to improve milk production within the Ankole breed without replacing its indigenous genetics with exotic dairy breeds.
About three years ago, NAGRC&DB launched a deliberate breeding programme at Nshaara to identify Ankole cattle with superior milk-production potential. The initiative involved screening animals within the existing herd and introducing selected superior Ankole genetics from recognised sources, including the Kisozi Ankole Longhorn conservation and improvement herd.
The objective is not to crossbreed Ankole cattle with exotic dairy breeds, but to exploit the natural genetic variation within the breed and progressively concentrate desirable dairy traits through systematic selection.
Selecting superior animals
The programme established clear selection criteria for its nucleus population, with milk yield identified as the principal productive trait.
Other traits considered include lactation length, udder conformation and calving interval. This allows the breeding team to identify cows that combine higher milk production with sustained lactation and reproductive efficiency.
Replacement heifers are evaluated using information on their dams’ milk production, growth and fertility, alongside physical assessments of body structure, udder characteristics and temperament.
As superior female lines have been identified, the programme has increasingly focused on selecting breeding bulls from high-performing maternal families.
Because milk-production traits can be passed from sires to their daughters, candidate bulls are assessed partly on the milk-production performance of their dams. The assessment is also based on growth rate, body size and stature, age at maturity, reproductive soundness, testicular development, libido, temperament and other functional characteristics.
Bulls from highly productive cows are therefore prioritised to help improve milk-production traits in subsequent generations.
Dr Innocent Tuwangye, manager of Nshaara Conservation Ranch, said the approach is focused on improving the Ankole breed using its own genetic population.
“We are not trying to turn the Ankole into an exotic dairy cow. We are identifying superior dairy traits that already exist within the pure Ankole population and systematically selecting and multiplying those genetics. The objective is to develop an Ankole animal that produces more milk while retaining the adaptability, resilience and genetic identity for which the breed is known,” he said.
Building a data-driven herd
The breeding programme is supported by detailed production, reproductive and animal-health records.
The information is maintained through physical farm records and NAGRC&DB’s Integrated Livestock Management Information System (ILMIS), allowing the breeding team to build individual performance histories and link production outcomes to specific animals and maternal lines.
Historical performance, including peak yields across successive lactations, is used to guide subsequent breeding and selection decisions.
The approach has coincided with significant increases in recorded herd-level milk production.
In 2023, average recorded milk productivity stood at 5.2 litres per active cow per day, with annual recorded production of approximately 56,040 litres. The active milking population increased from 24 cows in January to 35 in December.
In 2024, average productivity rose to 7.0 litres per cow per day, while annual recorded milk production increased to approximately 106,358 litres. The milking population grew from 36 cows at the beginning of the year to 47 by December.
By December 2025, average productivity had risen further to 8.6 litres per cow per day, while annual recorded production reached approximately 168,285 litres. The milking population increased from 47 cows in January to 60 by December.
The records indicate an approximately 65.4 per cent increase in average productivity between 2023 and 2025, alongside a steady expansion of the selected milking population.
Exceptional cows show breed’s potential
The improvement is also evident at individual-animal level.
Under traditional production conditions, an Ankole cow may produce an average of about two litres during morning milking. At Nshaara, selected cows are now regularly recording about five to 10 litres in a single morning milking session, while a few exceptional animals have produced up to 12 litres between their second and seventh lactations.
One cow has recorded a peak morning yield of 14 litres, demonstrating the productive potential within the Ankole population.
However, NAGRC&DB says exceptional individual animals are not the ultimate measure of the programme’s success. The long-term objective is to make superior performance increasingly repeatable, heritable and predictable across families and successive generations.
Better feeding supports genetic potential
The emerging results have also shown that genetic potential alone is not enough to sustain higher milk production.
NAGRC&DB has therefore strengthened nutritional management at Nshaara by supplementing conventional grazing with hay and silage produced at the ranch.
The highest individual yields have been observed under the improved feeding regime, highlighting the link between genetic potential and adequate nutrition.
Dr Peter Beine, executive director of NAGRC&DB, said breeding and feeding must be pursued together.
“Our records are increasingly showing us that breeding and feeding must move together. Selection identifies the animal with superior genetic potential, but nutrition determines how effectively that potential is expressed. We are therefore using the production data not only to select our breeding animals but also to refine feeding and management protocols for the emerging Ankole dairy population,” he said.
From exceptional cows to a stable dairy population
The programme is now entering a phase in which the focus is shifting from identifying a few exceptional animals to consolidating superior performance across families and successive generations.
The next stage will require continued pedigree recording, identification of elite cows, selection of replacement heifers from proven maternal lines, use of bulls originating from superior dams and systematic evaluation of their offspring.
Dr Beine said the ultimate goal is to establish a population in which high milk production can be consistently reproduced from one generation to another.
“Our real measure of success will not simply be one exceptional cow. The breeding objective is to establish a population in which superior milk production can be consistently reproduced from one generation to another. That is why pedigree integrity, individual animal identification, performance recording and selection of proven maternal and sire lines are central to what we are doing at Nshaara,” he said.
What began at Nshaara as an effort to identify naturally superior milk-producing Ankole cows is developing into a structured breeding programme aimed at producing a genetically stable, productive and resilient pure Ankole dairy population.
The initiative places Uganda’s indigenous cattle genetics at the centre of efforts to improve livestock productivity, while seeking to demonstrate that higher milk production can be achieved without sacrificing the adaptability, resilience and genetic identity of the Ankole Longhorn.
