P2a: Longevity: Age, Parity and Intensive Herds

Cows tend to produce more milk with each lactation. But cows in Australian dairy herds are young. Only 10% of cows produce milk for five lactations or more and about 60% of the average national milking herd has calved twice or less.

Optimising the productive life of dairy cows ensures dairy farm businesses receive the best return on their investment from rearing the calf; it also increases milk production and reduces the environmental footprint of individual cows.

Research approach

This project combines information from existing large cow data sets with real-world, extensive monitoring of up to 30 Australian dairy herds. Half of the 30 Australian herds included are pasture based, the rest run intensive systems. These herds are supplying herd test and farm management records for monitoring.

Researchers provide these farms with specific termination codes to input into their farm software to provide additional detail about the cause of individual cow culling.  Blood samples are being taken from certain cows at various times throughout its to provide additional health information and potentially identify biomarkers indicating illness.

The initial dataset for this analysis includes detailed health and reproduction data from 36,000 cows across 13 countries including Australia, Canada, and the United States of America.  Researchers are analysing this data set at an individual cow level, searching for key disease risk factors. Herd records and information from Datagene is also being used in this analysis.

Progress