2023

2025

The aim of the project is to improve the sustainability of milk production. Increasing profitability and competitiveness and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be achieved at the same time by improving feed efficiency in dairy cows through genomic selection. A significantly more efficient genetic progress can be achieved if a larger number of cows is under recording for feed efficiency and GHG emissions. However, focus must be not only on resource efficiency, but emphasis should be put also on cow welfare and resilience. During the recent years new technologies have been developed that can collect the information needed for the above-mentioned traits also from commercial farms. This project is a joint effort between animal breeding, nutrition and welfare scientists from Luke and University of Helsinki and Finnish dairy farming stakeholders. Close cooperation between different dairy farming stakeholders on establishing reference farms (Living Labs) will have a positive effect for implementation of innovations in the Finnish dairy farming sector that will go beyond the lifetime of this project. The main implementation activities of the project will be 1) continuous recording of metabolic efficiency and GHG emissions of dairy cows in Living Lab and research herds, 2) statistical model for genomic evaluation incorporating metabolic efficiency measurements based on novel technology, 3) cow health indicators, NEFA and BHB, available for farmers to be used in herd management, and 4) novel measurements of welfare and resilience traits that can be used on-farms for herd management and may be utilized through animal breeding in the future.