Chris McGregor, right, who farmed with his father, David, near Antrim, has opended a new veterinary practice in Scotland, and is pictured with his business partner, Ross Wilson.

David McGregor, who farms 130 cows on robots near Antrim was one of the first farmers to take on the new system of genetic improvement.

He explained: We had two reasons for starting the RMS Optimise Program. Firstly, we knew from experience, that Genus ABS had the expertise to provide the service and the bull stud to back up the genetics. Secondly, my son, who had been heavily involved with the fertility program in the herd, was starting up Tinto Farm Vets, a new veterinary practice in Scotland, so his focus was moving to that business venture. We started to investigate the options. Gareth Bell, breeding advisor with Genus ABS suggested RMS Optimise. We studied the system in depth and decided that it fitted in with our plans for the dairy enterprise.

David outlined his experience with the RMS Optimise program: The Technician, Michael Scott, calls at the same time everyday to detect cows on heat and ensures they are mated with the appropriate genetics for our overall aims for the herd and the cows individual genetic requirements. In addition he looks after all the paperwork, providing detailed fertility reports which enable us to ensure that our feeding program, compiled by David from FarmGate Nutrition, complements our overall aims for the herd.

David emphasised; A successful dairy enterprise needs a team effort, with input from breeding adviser, nutritionist, vet etc. and Genus ABS takes account of all aspects when advising on our breeding program.

The net result has been a decrease of nearly 50 days off our calving interval which now has a projected calving interval of 383 days. Milk yield has increased from 34 litres per day up to 39 litres at present. Our pregnancy rate has improved greatly - we are now hitting 25%.

Simon Logan, explains: Pregnancy rate is the measure of how fast your herd is becoming pregnant and is your conception rate multiplied by your submission rate. Basically, the UK average is around 13%. David and Chris have almost doubled this in their first year of RMS Optimise which is a fantastic achievement.

David added: We have more milk in the tank and less cows culled due to infertility and so we have been able to sell surplus heifers and generated more income. We have also generated quite a few British blue calves not to mention a lot of valuable Sexcel pregnancies.

Simon Logan emphasised that the new RMS Optimise program has many more additional benefits. He explained: Farmers who utilise this program can create 67% of pregnancies with easy calving British Blue sires which should produce a cash crop of high value calves. All of the benefits will, in turn, mean increased milk production and pregnancy rates, a decreased calving interval, minimise the number of low value Holstein male calves and provide detailed management reports.

He added: In our first year of launching the Optimise service we had 19 customers all coming on for various reasons. It has been exciting to be a part of something that has really helped a lot of our customers. We have had 13 years of providing the RMS service in Northern Ireland and it now includes almost 40,000 cows improving the fertility and management of these herds. RMS Optimise further enhances this service and, in turn, the financial performance of the farm. We have had a lot of interest in the service and are aiming to accommodate more customers, although space will be limited so please contact your local Genus ABS representative for a free on farm consultation.

Read the original here:
One year on from the launch of RMS Optimise from Genus ABS - Farming Life

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