Next Generation Herd version 2.0

Teagasc is re-launching the Next Generation Herd experiment on dairy cow genetics of the future. Teagasc researcher Brian McCarthy and UCC researcher Frank Buckley are leading the project, which is a follow-on from the original Next Generation Herd experiment which began in Moorepark in 2013.

The original experiment looked at two different genotypes; national average and elite EBI cows across different feeding systems. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal last week, Brian McCarthy said that the new experiment will involve three genotypes; Holstein Friesian cows at national average EBI, elite EBI Holstein Friesian and elite EBI Jersey crossbred cows.

Over the last few months, the team at Teagasc has been busy buying additional stock for the new trial, with most of the elite animals coming from within Teagasc herds, while all of the national average animals were purchased.

In terms of EBI, the national average animals have an EBI of €217 while the elite Holstein Friesian cows have an EBI of €311 and the Jersey crossbred cows have an EBI of €302, putting the elite animals in the top 1% to 2% in terms of EBI nationally.

Brian said that the EBI of the national average is a bit higher than the actual national average, but this is because the Next Generation Herd is geared towards younger animals, with 60% in first lactation, 27% in second lactation and the rest in third lactation.

Brian says that the purpose of the trial is to continuously validate the EBI to make sure it is on the right track because the elite animals are one or two generations ahead of the national average.

Production and fertility traits will be measured along with environmental footprint such as methane emissions and N use efficiency.

The experiment

There are two other interesting elements to the experiment. The first is that all progeny from the herd will be brought through to beef. The plan is to graze both male and female offspring at the trial site at the Dairygold farm in Kilworth for their first year.

They will likely move to a different Teagasc location for their second year but all growth rate and slaughter data will be collected and analysed as part of the system study.

Brian says the plan is to use a combination of high and moderate beef value beef bulls on the herd in equal proportion to analyse the differences in the commercial beef value of the progeny.

Secondly, the plan is to run the herd across three different stocking rates. One stocking rate will be at 170kg organic N/ha, the second will be at 220kg organic N/ha and the third will be at 220kg organic N/ha across the whole farm, but 270kg organic N/ha on the grazing platform.

For a herd in the middle band, a 270kg N/ha stocking rate equates to a stocking rate of 2.93 cows/ha.

The UCD Lyons systems herd has now completed nine years of demonstration of higher input spring calving grazing systems. One of the objectives of the study is to test the performance of cows with a higher genetic potential for milk yield.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal this week, UCD researcher Alan Fahey explained that the ideal cow for the Lyons herd is balanced for milk and fertility traits.

They are targeting bulls that are +200kg of milk kilos and positive for fat and protein per cent.

The herd has an EBI of €247 with a milk sub-index of €86 and a fertility sub-index of €106, putting it in the top 1% and top 15% nationally for each sub-index.

Metrics

Response to concentrate is a key metric for the UCD system with the researchers saying that they are going to be more responsive to the milk and meal price dynamics and could feed up to 1.8t of meal per cow in 2025 if necessary.

The herd is trialling low crude protein concentrates in 2025.