To contextualise their classroom learning about genetics and genomics our Year 10 Science students undertook a field trip to Nick, Simone and Will Renyard’s Meon Valley dairy farm. Students heard about the Renyard’s career progression and inspected the new rotary dairy that was built to replace their 30 year old platform with an emphasis on using technology to increase both cow / worker comfort and ease of operation. The Renyard’s mating program was summarised with an emphasis on using genetics to improve cow health, farm production and the importance of breeding an efficient, healthy animal. John Ryan from The Vet Group described how mating programs had evolved and the benefits of synchronizing herds to calve to suit the farm’s feed profile. Embryo transfers were discussed as was the use of world class genetics to select sires, the potential of genomics to identify animals with the most potential in a herd and the use of sexed semen to ensure that potentially 90% of the calves would be female as technology has enabled this technology to be just slightly less reliable than conventional semen. The use of cow collars and apps linked to phones and their computer system was detailed with the collars sending data on cow mobility, heath and fertility through rumination and activity sensors on the collars. Nick showed how this data was used to manage the whole herd health by sending alerts to identify individual cows that may become unwell, for example lame, not ruminating properly, ill or starting to calve. The most accurate feature of the collars is their ability to pick cows on heat and draft cohorts of cows for mating. John then demonstrated how cows are preg tested with students being able to detect a foetal heart beat on a monitor. This field trip was able to reveal how technology is at the cutting edge of agriculture with an exciting, practical application of science and technology in our regional dairy industry. Comments are closed.
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April 2024
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