North Devon: Maximising herd efficiency through genetics and genomics

Join us for an event with Newlands Farm and, Strategic Dairy Farm host, David Luxton to see how he is working on the genetic progress of his herd by using the herd genetic report and genomic testing to make informed breeding decisions.

Find out how building the right genetics into your breeding programme can maintain herd strengths and address areas of weakness. We will look at how the team at Newlands can make decisions on breeding the right cow for their system and milk contract, using their herd genetic report and genomic results from last year’s heifers.

We will also be joined by Daniel Pitt from AHDB and Cari Thomas from Cogent.

Arrival from 6.45pm for registration and dinner at 7pm.

This meeting will cover

• Newlands breeding plans
• Understanding breeding indexes and selecting the right one for your herd
• How to use your herd genetic report to make breeding decisions
• How using genomic testing can help speed up genetic gains in the herd
• The reliability of dairy cow genomics

About Newlands Farm

Newlands Farm, near Bude, is run by David Luxton and the Haworth family. Having been in the family since the 1960s, Newlands Farm runs an all-year-round calving, pedigree Holstein Friesian herd and milk 180 through a guided robotic system. Previously a traditional grass-based system, the farm invested in a guided robotic system in 2019. This has delivered an increase in yield from about 8,500 to 11,000 litres, which the team continually review and hope to lift further.

The 250-acre farm is all down to permanent pasture which they reseed as regularly as they can. They’ve always seen good yields and are currently achieving around 4,000 litres from forage, which they hope to improve during their time as a strategic farm. A further 70 acres are rented, 35 of which is to grass, with the remainder used for maize, which David trialled for the first time in 2021.

The milking herd consists of 180 pedigree Holstein Friesians. All cows are fully housed, including youngstock, which has helped increase growth rates. A new, purpose-built shed houses the robots and milking herd.

Over the next few years, David is particularly keen to focus on his financial key performance indicators (KPIs). The team are also looking to improve their age at first calving which they hope to reduce to 24 months. To achieve this, David is particularly focusing on his heifers’ growth rates and is looking to make further improvements to their management.