A Western Australian dairy farming family is using genomic information to bolster herd data to make better farm decisions.
Rodney and Nicole May, Brantina Farm, took their first genomic samples three years ago.
Driven by a need to gather more objective information about their heifers, the Cowaramup, WA, dairy farmers decided to embrace the industry science and marry it with their previous decision-making tools.
"Before we started using genomics, we'd look at each heifer's mother and keep the calves out for the cows we liked, that were good," Mrs May said.
"It was a bit of a guessing game, so when we started using Holstein sexed semen and got more heifers, it was good to use their DNA to decide which ones to keep and which ones to export.
"We still look at their mothers and their history, we don't just rely on genomics, but it's another tool to help us select heifers."
The May family, along with their worker Sarah Grosse-Gehling and son Justin - who works on the farm when he has time-off from his job in the Northern Territory - milk up to 240 cows.
Three-quarters of the predominantly Holstein herd calves from January through to the end of May, with the rest calving by the end of October.
The pasture-based operation is supplemented with silage in the paddock during summer and into autumn and with grain in the dairy.
It's only early days in the Mays' genomic journey, but they plan to use this information to accompany their Easy Dairy records and input the data into their breeding program to assist with joining decisions.
The Mays have been using Easy Dairy for 17 years and it was important to them for all their data to work together to inform day-to-day decision making.
High Balanced Performance Index heifers retained
DataGene's Balanced Performance Index (BPI) is the first metric Mrs May looks for when she receives the spreadsheet of genomic results.
The highest BPI animals are the ones they retain. She also looks at each heifer's milk, protein and fat.
Genomic testing has been completed when calves are disbudded and vaccinated, but occasionally - when there's a large group - Mrs May said they liked to just focus on the task of obtaining a clean DNA sample from the calves.
She said they usually tackled the job of genomic sampling with two people to ensure the tissue sample and the paperwork were correct.
The Mays also use DataGene's Good Bulls App to research prospective sires.
Like the traits they look for in their heifer genomic results - determining the ones they are going to retain on farm - the couple also concentrate on production when it comes to selecting bulls but also add in specific health and fertility traits into their breeding criteria.
For example, they have won many Countdown Downunder awards - recognising the quality of their milk - so breeding cows that aren't as susceptible to mastitis and have good udders is important.
Mr May also places a huge emphasis on feet and legs. He said this trait was crucial to ensure cows could walk to and from the paddock and dairy efficiently.
Working with their Farmwest breeding adviser Paul Kersten, the Mays take the shortlist of bulls he provides and use the app to dig deeper into their pedigree.
"We really are looking for a bit of everything with our breeding," Mr May said.
"Health is really important and usually production comes with the modern bulls and then feet are critical, if a cow can't walk, she's no good."
The Mays use a combination of genomic and proven bulls in their breeding program.
They like using genomics to identify younger bulls for use in artificial insemination programs and using the Good Bulls App as a simple way to search their pedigree.
"Businesses must be on top of their decision making around production and science helps with that," Mr May said.
"It applies to growing pasture and breeding; with science it means we are no longer guessing."
"Our inputs can be way too expensive to just guess what needs to be done."
For more information see website www.datavat.com.au or email abv@datagene.com.au.
