Mella Briscoe is farming in a four-way partnership with her husband Kevin Muldoon and their two sons, Jack and Naise in Co. Galway.

She explained: “It’s a spring calving herd, we’d have a 90%, six-week calving rate, which are very happy with.”

Mella started using Genocells last year because she wanted an extra set of somatic cell count (SCC) results that would help to identify cows to cull from the herd.

“Since we practice selective dry cow therapy, I wanted an extra set of somatic cell count results before we dried off the last few batches of cows.

“We used it again in April where we had a list of cows that we decided we were culling due to somatic cell issues and just to confirm that they hadn’t been cured over the winter period.”

Genocells is the bulk tank SCC testing service available through Progressive Genetics and Munster Bovine in association with the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF).

Mella implements Genocells as part of a targeted approach in conjunction with their four milk recordings per year, to give a greater level of data in terms of how the herd is performing.

“In the beginning, I thought, ‘Wow! We don’t have to do milk recording anymore’, but it’s not that simple.

“It complements your normal milk recording because Genocells can’t tell you the fat, the protein or the yield. It can only give you a somatic cell count reading.

“Every cow in the tank is genotyped, which meant that we were able to submit a sample for the entire herd.

“It’s a fantastic technology. To think that you can trace the somatic cell count to each cow’s DNA, it’s phenomenal, it’s a great service.”

“The way the results are presented to you as a farmer, they are nice and simple to read, excellent!

“It’s very good and it’s very straightforward. Your problem cows are at the top of the list in red so I like the way it’s presented.”

Commenting on carrying out Genocells on the herd, Mella said it was a “quick and simple” process.

“It’s very simple, you can just take it out of the outlet from the tank, put it into your bottle and you post it away in the envelope.”

At a cost of €180 per sample, Mella believes the service represents good value for farmers trying to protect milk quality and avoid SCC penalties.

She said: “It’s very good value for money, it’s easy to use. I would recommend it.

“It’s a great tool if you’re only doing four milk recordings in the year and you’re coming up to drying off.

“It’s a fantastic back-up to have. We will definitely be using it again.”

Genocells delivering confidence on farm

One year on from the launch of Genocells, dairy farmers across the country are continuing to see the benefits of Genocells as an additional tool to help manage SCC and support milk quality on farm.

Launched by Progressive Genetics and Munster Bovine, in association with ICBF, Genocells uses a single bulk tank milk sample to identify the cows contributing most to the SCC in the tank.

The technology works by extracting DNA from somatic cells present in the milk and matching it against the genotypes of the cows contributing milk to the tank.

Using milk recording yield data and bulk tank SCC results, Genocells can identify the percentage contribution each cow is making to the overall SCC level.

As somatic cells are the only milk components that contain DNA, the percentage of DNA that each cow contributes to the overall DNA volume in the bulk tank is equivalent to the percentage of somatic cells that each cow contributes to bulk tank SCC. This is known as percentage cellular responsibility.

Individual SCCs are then calculated using the percentage cellular responsibility, the percentage of the milk volume that the cow contributed to the tank (calculated using milk recording yields) and the bulk tank SCC result.

Genocells SCC results are reported using banding: 0–50; 51–199; 200–249; 250–499; 500–999; and 1000+.

Results are made available through the ICBF HerdPlus app and website, providing farmers with a clear indication of the top cows contributing to the bulk tank SCC.

For many farmers, this has become an invaluable management tool, particularly when SCC spikes unexpectedly between milk recordings.

Who is Genocells suitable for?

Genocells will provide more points of information over and above milk recording results to manage herds with high or fluctuating cell counts.

Genocells is also suitable for low cell count herds that experience spikes in cell count as it is a simple and convenient way of identifying high SCC cows relatively quickly.

Genocells can also provide more points of information about individual cows before dry-off to make better decisions regarding dry cow therapy and cow retention.

What does a dairy farmer have to do to avail of Genocells?

All cows contributing milk to the bulk tank must be genotyped. If a non-genotyped cow contributes milk to the bulk tank, this will affect the accuracy of the results for other cows;

The herd must be a member of ICBF HerdPlus;
The herd owner must download the ICBF HerdPlus app. There is no cost associated with this;
The herd must be signed up to complete four milk recordings annually and the first milk recording must be completed before a Genocells test can take place, as milk yield is essential to calculate individual SCC contributions.

Genocells is exclusively available to Progressive Genetics and Munster Bovine milk recording customers.

For more information, contact Progressive Genetics on 046 9540606 or Munster Bovine on 022 43228.

Tom Keogh

'We need farmers to innovate' - Keogh's Crisps founder