- Author: Hanif Houston, The VINE
The Hague, NL – The dairy industry in both California and the Netherlands faces four major challenges: manure management, enteric methane, labor, and sustainability measurements and standards. To identify existing and emerging market solutions and assess the impact of these solutions across the four categories and animal welfare, an innovation assessment tool has been created.
The VINE, an initiative of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Wageningen Livestock Research - Dairy Campus have released their novel Global Dairy Industry Innovation Assessment Tool. This tool is the first step in a joint dairy collaborative aimed at promoting sustainable, climate-smart agriculture for a better future.
"The partnership between The VINE and Wageningen Livestock Research - Dairy Campus has enabled us to combine our expertise and insights to create an overview of these key challenges and opportunities for the dairy industry,” said Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer for UC ANR. “Understanding this landscape of innovation allows us to leverage our shared resources to support and drive the commercialization of solutions.”
“Innovation is key for the future development of the dairy sector in both countries” said Kees de Koning, manager Innovation at Dairy Campus.
This tool provides a snapshot of the current state of innovation addressing some of the challenges in the dairy industry, showcasing innovative technologies and products that are, or have the potential to, make a difference on a global scale. By identifying the most promising solutions and encouraging collaboration among key industry players, the team aims to drive further progress toward a sustainable dairy industry.
The database lists companies, identifies which challenges their product addresses and ranks the maturity of the product from “proof of concept” to “mature.”
“This Global Dairy Industry Innovation Assessment Tool is designed to give insights on the opportunities and tradeoffs inherent in deploying any new technology,” said Mareese Keane, co-founder of Opengate and partner of The VINE. “It is a living database and any companies that want to add or update their entry are invited to get in touch."
To complement the assessment tool, The Vine and Wageningen dairy collaboration are working on the following projects:
- Building Blocks for Virtual Future Farm: Envisioning a theoretical farm with zero emissions or maximum circularity by leveraging Dutch precision technology and California large-scale farming expertise.
- The VINE VIP (Validation of Innovations Project): Focusing first on value-added products from manure, participants will look for technologies that provide value-added products at scale from manure, beyond energy and direct application as fertilizer.
- A delegation of California-based dairy industry innovators and operators are invited to join an innovation tour of the Dutch dairy industry, starting Nov. 6.
Click here to view the Dairy Innovation Assessment Tool: https://airtable.com/shrMIHqbWNnwhJs8y/tblN8IzvBQ5kAwSou
For more information about the Dairy Innovation Assessment Tool, how the companies included were selected, and how to submit or update additional entries, please visit https://thevine.io/towards-better-dairy-global-innovation-landscape.
About The VINE: The VINE, an initiative of the University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, is California's agriculture, food and biotech innovation network. The VINE aims to harness the power of open innovation to help industries and entrepreneurs grow and scale globally while catalyzing technology innovation and commercialization for productive, sustainable, and equitable food systems.
About Wageningen Livestock Research - Dairy Campus: Wageningen Dairy Campus is a leading research institution in the Netherlands focused on dairy farming and sustainability. The Dairy Campus provides a platform for education, research and innovation, bringing together industry partners, academi, and government organizations to advance sustainable practices in the dairy sector.
- Author: Pat Bailey, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu
"Most dairy breeding programs select for milk production but the results of this study indicate that the cow's conformation, particularly in terms of hoof health, also should be considered," said Anita Oberbauer, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Animal Science and lead author of the study. The study is published in the October issue of the Journal of Dairy Science.
By reducing hoof-health problems through selective breeding, dairy producers could increase herd longevity, improve milk yield and reduce economic inputs and environmental impacts related to raising replacement heifers, the study concludes.
Oberbauer noted that lameness and hoof health are also animal welfare issues that can cause dairy producers to cull, or retire, cows early from their milking herds. As of 2011, an average of more than 40 percent of California dairy cows were culled annually, and lameness was one of the top three reasons for culling.
The 29-month study, conducted on three California dairies, correlated milk-production records with weekly observations of hoof health problems for more than 5,000 cows, including those that were visibly lame and those that were "dry," or finishing their milking cycle.
Recorded lameness-related hoof conditions included white line disease, sole ulcer, other claw horn lesions, foot rot and foot warts.
Foot warts were the most prevalent of the ailments, occurring in more than 17 percent of the monitored cows. The research also demonstrated a sizable genetic component to sole ulcer and foot warts, indicating that a breeding program directed at reducing hoof disease will likely lead to measurable improvements.
The study concluded that a breeding program that considers hoof-health traits would be unlikely to jeopardize the cows' milk productivity.
Oberbauer said that further study is now needed to identify the specific genes or DNA regions that are responsible for hoof-health traits.
UC Davis has helped to make California the nation's largest dairy state, contributing to better sanitation procedures, improvements in raw milk handling and quality, and innovations that have reduced the environmental impact of livestock waste. The J-5 vaccine alone, developed in 1988 by veterinary medicine faculty to prevent mastitis in dairy cattle, saves producers $11 million annually. Faculty research carried out at UC Davis also helped eradicate bluetongue virus in parts of the United States and rinderpest in much of Africa. Both diseases affect livestock.
Collaborating researchers on this study included Steven Berry, a Cooperative Extension dairy management specialist, staff researcher Janelle Belanger, alumna Rachel Goldrick and Professor Thomas Famula, all of the UC Davis Department of Animal Science; and Juan Manuel Pinos-Rodriguez of Instituto de Investigacion de Zonas Deserticas, Mexico.
The W.K. Kellogg Endowment and the University of California's Agriculture and Natural Resources division funded the study.
