Behind the Scenes of Ireland’s Economic Breeding Index, the Complexity of Dairy Longevity, and Our Genetic Progress Towards Next Generation Herds with Donagh Berry, PhD

Pull up a seat as we dive into dairy genetics and Ireland’s esteemed national dairy breeding index—the Economic Breeding Index (EBI)—with the man who championed it, Donagh Berry, PhD. Berry is a quantitative geneticist and a Senior Principal Research Officer with Teagasc Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre and Director of VistaMilk SFI Research Centre. He joins longtime friend Matt for a special installment of Dairy Digressions recorded during the ADSA Discover Conference on dairy cattle lifespan to explain how he became interested in animal genetics through a love of math and his work developing technologies and tools to help improve dairy farm profitability and futureproof dairy production for the next generation and beyond. Berry takes us behind the decisions that go into selecting traits for the EBI as well as the history of genetic selection—which up until 30 years ago focused mainly on milk production. The two discuss the state of dairy in Ireland and applaud the resilience and ability of Irish farmers to change and adapt over time, from adopting the EBI despite doubts to transitioning from seeing clover as a weed to a tool reducing dairy’s environmental footprint. Finally, Donagh walk us through the evolving discussion of dairy cow longevity as it relates to genetic progress, profitability, and dairy’s carbon footprint—including how genomics and sexed semen have turned the discussion on its head.

Episode Nine Show Notes

Learn more about Teagasc Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre and VistaMilk SFI Research Centre, and connect with Donagh Berry on LinkedIn and Twitter/X.   

Are you interested in participating in future Discover Conference meetings? Save the date for the 46th Discover on precision dairy farming happening May 6-9, 2024 in Itasca, IL.

Catch up on the papers discussed on the episode:

Invited review: Beef-on-dairy—The generation of crossbred beef × dairy cattle, Journal of Dairy Science (2021)

Predicting methane emissions of individual grazing dairy cows from spectral analyses of their milk samples, Journal of Dairy Science (2023)