One great thing about farming is the amount of data available on almost every element of farming and yet we hardly tap into it. Data is so valuable and it helps you look at your farm in a different way. Not for everyone but so powerful! Being an engineer I am a number geek and love data. We are fortunate that we have a system that captures significant data each day on our herd. But while we have used basics we never really dive into real details and analysis. So over the last few weeks we have been doing some great data analysis of our herd. As we have two dairy platforms and herds, this season we are splitting the herds into a high performing herd and then heifers/ lower producing cows. It means we can support the different herds and their needs accordingly. We have analysed our herd for all lactations history and selected consistently top performing cows. We are also looking at if there is a correlation between amount of feed in shed and milk production and the initial analysis is quite interesting – most certainly not what you expect. We also need to compare this to our bull genetics data if there is in fact a true correlation. We are also comparing if a cow that is high producing calves heifers that also are high producing. If we find strong patterns it means that we can start focusing our breeding selection not just based on the bull genetics but what our cows are actually doing and slowly building a 100% high producing and high feed efficiency herd. Data – you have to love it!! I will keep you updated on the analysis we are doing.
