A family-run dairy farm in South Derbyshire made significant improvements in £PLI and total solids by embracing genomics for efficiency and sustainability through The EcoFeed Project.

West View Farm in South Derbyshire has been in operation as a family-run dairy farm for four generations. Richard Ward took over from his father 20 years ago, but his great-grandfather had been dairy farming there since 1937.

When Richard took over, he looked to intensify the work of the cows and push on yields. The farm currently manages 180 Holstein Friesian cows, in an all-year housed system, calving year-round. They are milking three times a day at about 13,500 litres and produce on average 1,000kg of milk solids per cow annually. The herd is grass and maize fed, growing as much grass as they can on their own farm and renting ground to grow maize.

West View Farm has been part of the Arla farmer network for several years. Once Arla transitioned to a manufacturing contract, Richard needed to focus on increasing milk solid production efficiently in order to best meet the component requirements of their milk contract. This change in focus led the farm to consider genomics to increase selection intensity and push for fat and protein production. With an eye to the future of the dairy industry, Richard was also keen to improve the farm’s sustainability and efficiency.

The EcoFeed Project, a 3-year collaboration between Cogent Breeding and Kite Consulting, investigated the potential of genetics to accelerate the productivity and sustainability of commercial dairy farms. Four commercial dairy farms in Derbyshire, Arla farmers and members of the Asda Pathfinders Innovators group, were recruited as trial farms.

When Richard was approached by Cogent Breeding for West View Farm to join the EcoFeed Project as one of the trial farms, it was an easy decision for him to agree. The Project objectives were already aligned with Richard’s ambitions, and it was an opportunity to drive the farm’s genomic agenda forward.

Tim Davies from Kite Consulting has worked with Richard as his nutrition consultant for many years and Tim commented “Richard was an obvious choice for the project. He already had a good herd of cows genetically and his attention to detail across other technical areas means he has productive and profitable cows. He is always looking for the next opportunity to improve herd performance and focussing on genetics was it. It has been really interesting and gratifying to see the impact a focussed genetic strategy has had even on an already high-performance herd like Richard’s.”

Andrew Holliday, Cogent Genetics Product Manager, explained, "This project was about applying EcoFeed and Genomic selection in a real world, commercial environment. Richard was already doing very well, and the opportunity to see if we could take that even further was too good to miss."

The EcoFeed Project on West View Farm

EcoFeed, an index introduced by Cogent Breeding in 2017, identifies animals with the genomic trait to produce more milk using less feed resources. It focuses on feed efficiency conversion and production traits. EcoFeed aims to predict Residual Feed Intake (RFI), the difference between actual and predicted Dry Matter (DM) intakes, based on body size and production.

With feed being one of the biggest costs on farm, both economic and in impact on the environment, selecting for high EcoFeed values as a secondary selection criterion complementing a farm’s breeding objectives would positively impact the farms profitability and sustainability.

The EcoFeed Project was conducted across four commercial dairy farms in Derbyshire from 2020 to 2023, with herd sizes ranging from 180-500. The aim of the project was to demonstrate the benefit of genomics on improving the rate of genetic gain and increase the profitability and sustainability of farms. They also attempted to establish a baseline for EcoFeed scores and quantify the potential for increasing the EcoFeed scores during the trial period. The project combined genomic testing, sexed breeding strategies, and a breeding programme recommended by Cogent’s PrecisionMAP analysis to select and breed the most efficient cows and heifers.

Richard was already interested in genomics before taking part in the project. He had dabbled in genomic testing some heifers and had been using genomic bulls for years. So, he had full faith in the technology and had no hesitation in embracing the opportunity to expand genomic testing to cows as well as heifers and any calves born during the trial period.

Once genomic testing was completed on all females, PrecisionMAP, Cogent’s breeding programme and reporting tool, was used to identify genetic elite females. 4M Ultraplus female sexed semen was used on 80% of heifers and 35% of cows to breed sufficient next generation replacements. Holstein bulls were selected based on their fat, protein and EcoFeed rankings. All matings were performed by Chromosomal Mating, maximising economic traits and avoiding inbreeding using genomic inbreeding predictions.

The only reservation Richard had regarding the project was that because it was an EcoFeed trial there may be restrictions and enforcements on which bulls were used and that may not align with his strategy and priorities for the farm. That fear was quickly allayed, however. The bulls for each farm were always selected according to £CCI (Cogent’s Custom Index – based on £PLI but weighted to each farmer’s own milk contract).

Richard was involved every step of the way and had final say in all breeding decisions. The bulls were selected based on the criteria he specified, EcoFeed was a secondary trait.

Results and Benefits

West View Farm saw significant improvements over the three-year period of the EcoFeed Project.

• Actual Production: Milk solids produced per cow/year increased by 15%, from 932kg in 2020 to 1072kg in 2023.
• Financial Improvement: The increase in fat and protein potential could lead to an increased payment from 0.906 ppl to 1.6ppl which could result in a total benefit of £39,152 per year for Richard’s farm.
• Genetic Profit: £PLI per year increased by £68 over a five-year period (significantly higher than the UK average of £60 per year).
• Genetic Gain: Total milk solids gPTA (genomic Predicted Transmitting Ability) gain improved by 48% (15.8kg) when comparing the 0-12month heifer group to the whole herd – meaning these heifers, have 48% more potential to produce milk solids when they enter the herd compared to where the herd is today.
• Feed Efficiency: Average EcoFeed score for the herd improved by 4.8 points (from 94.0 to 98.8), equating to a predicted daily feed intake saving of 0.22kg/cow. Based on a 180-cow herd, that equates to 39.6kgs feed saved per day – a total of 14,454kgs per year.
• Climate Impact: Arla climate check score improved from 1.09 to 1.04 kgCO₂e/kg milk (4% decrease) showing a positive environmental impact.

With Arla introducing the FarmAhead^TM Incentive, that rewards farmers for climate and environmental sustainability activities, the results of the EcoFeed Project could lead to further bonuses for West View Farm.

Richard highlights the importance of relying on data-driven decisions over subjective preferences and the faith he had in the Cogent team to put the needs of his farm first. This allowed him to take a step back and trust the decisions to be made based on the data.

He was pleased by the balance that was achieved for improvements in feed efficiency while maintaining progress in the other important traits such as production. They were still breeding the cows that he wanted to fulfil his milk contracts, and breeding for EcoFeed didn’t detract from that at all.

The most surprising outcome of the project for Richard was how quickly you can improve things. Within the 3 years of the project, the herd showed significant genetic progress, and the permanent, additive and cumulative benefit of genetics was obvious in his herd.

Future Plans and Advice for Fellow Dairy Farmers

Richard plans to carry on using genomics and the EcoFeed trait as part of his toolkit to continue enhancing his herd’s performance. His focus remains on producing high milk solids efficiently to meet his milk contract commitments with Arla while further improving feed efficiency and sustainability. Taking inspiration from the successes of dairy farmers in the US, he hopes to continue pushing for increased production while maintaining cow health and welfare.

As for advice for fellow farmers, Richard’s message was clear: “Have a very good look at where you want to be in the future and how you're going to get there. Then, see if you can put a case forward for not using genomics and not breeding for indices like EcoFeed.”

Richard Ward’s experience demonstrates how embracing genetic technologies like genomic testing and the EcoFeed index can lead to significant improvements in production efficiency, profitability, and sustainability on a dairy farm. By combining these tools with data-driven decision-making, farms can make rapid progress towards their goals while preparing for future industry challenges.