Previous to Richard working with us we were struggling to get above 30/31 litres. Richard came in looked at the robot settings, the cow’s environment and nutrition. We saw an immediate response and an uplift in milk. We went from 31- 36 litres in very little time and it was down to Richard getting the diet right.
DairyTech Insights
Will Tulley, talks about on-farm data can guide cutting edge nutrition.
Our Head of Technical, Will Tully spoke at the Innovation Hub last at DairyTech last month. The talk centred around how using on-farm data can guide smarter nutrition decisions and help cows reach their full potential. If you didn’t get to see Will – here’s a quick roundup of what he shared…
Cows are hitting new heights – can feed keep up?
Will highlighted just how far dairy farming has come. Cow yields today are higher than many of us thought possible 10–15 years ago. And with genomics increasingly on farm, the pace of improvement is only going to accelerate.
The challenge? While cows’ potential milk production keeps climbing, dry matter intake won’t keep up at the same rate. Some cows today are already producing 20,000+ Kgs per year, and there are animals in lactation with the potential for 30,000+ Kgs a year.
These cows would be best described as “elite athletes”, but we can’t just feed them more of the same stuff and expect them to reach their potential.
So, the approach is shifting. While good-quality forage and feed remain critical, we’re going to need more targeted, high-value nutrients, like specific amino acids, fatty acids, or feed additives that enhance digestion. And yes, these can be expensive, but they’re key to unlocking the genetic potential of your top cows.
The data explosion on farm
If there’s one thing progressive dairy farms have in spades, it’s data. Milking robots, wearables, AI-enabled cameras, and remote sensors are collecting more numbers than ever.
However, most of this data stays at the individual level, we know which cow is sick or high-producing, but how do we turn that into actionable decisions for the whole herd?
Will points out that to make the most of this data, we need to:
- Have accurate animal IDs and locations. Mistakes here lead to wrong decisions.
- Turn raw numbers into information, then knowledge, then action.
- Focus not just on averages but on the outliers, the cows underperforming or overperforming compared to their potential.
Averages can be misleading. Herd data often isn’t normally distributed: while some cows thrive, others underperform. By identifying outliers, both underperforming and top-performing cows, farmers can make more targeted decisions about:
- Nutrition adjustments.
- Transition and rearing management.
- Breeding or culling decisions.
This shift from “population management” to precision, individual-level management is where the next wave of productivity gains will come from.
Benchmarking for smarter decisions
One tool Will highlighted is Advanced Nutrition’s robotic milking benchmarking system, which pulls data from over 70 farms and 8,000 data points. It acts as a decision support system and can also:
- Compare herd performance to last month, last year, or similar farms.
- Spot bottlenecks in milk, feed, or management.
- Track everything from PMR quality to visit patterns and lactation curves.
The future: precision nutrition
Looking forward, the combination of accurate, granular data and advanced analytics will allow farms to:
- Track individual cow performance with real-time insights.
- Model dry matter intake and nutritional requirements with up to 95% accuracy.
- Deliver high-value nutrients to the animals that will benefit most.
- Optimise ROI from feed investments by feeding smarter, not just more.
Will emphasised that some foundational steps are essential today: ensuring animal IDs are correct, milk meters and sensors are accurate, and weight data is collected consistently. These building blocks will allow farms to integrate AI-driven insights and truly tailor nutrition at the individual level.
The genetic potential of dairy cows has never been higher, and the tools to unlock it are within reach. By turning mountains of farm data into actionable knowledge, farmers can move beyond averages, target investments effectively, and achieve precision nutrition that maximises both cow performance and economic returns.
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