Born through IVF Hilda can help accelerate dairy journey to net zero

The calf is the first of the 16th generation of the famous Dumfries-based Langhill Herd, a source of data for the UK dairy industry for more than half a century, and is the first member of the herd to be born through IVF.

Hilda is part of the Cool Cows project, which aims to establish a nucleus of highly methane-efficient animals.

Fertilising Hilda’s mother’s eggs in a lab means the next generation of the Langhill Herd has arrived eight months earlier than previously possible, SRUC said.

With the process set to be repeated, it means that researchers are doubling the rate of genetic gain and thereby accelerating the accumulation of data to breed more efficient dairy cows.

‘Hugely significant moment for UK dairy industry’

The partnership between SRUC, Cumbria vets Paragon and Semex has received £335,000 from the Digital Dairy Chain’s Collaborative Research & Development Grant Competition.

SRUC’s project lead, professor Richard Dewhurst, said that with global consumption of dairy produce continuing to grow, breeding livestock for sustainability is “extremely important”.

“The birth of Hilda is potentially a hugely significant moment for the UK dairy industry.

“We will use a new genomic assessment alongside existing production and environmental efficiency indices to select elite, methane-efficient heifers for breeding. The Cool Cows project will produce a greater number of offspring from these donors, rapidly establishing a nucleus of highly methane-efficient calves.”

First established in 1970, the Langhill Herd, which led to a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for SRUC in 2017, has contributed to the development of the Profitable Lifetime Index, which benefits all dairy farmers in the UK.

Over the last five years, the dairy feed intake records collected at Langhill have been used by Egenes to create national genomic breeding values for feed efficiency available to all farmers who genotype their cows.

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