Herd ’27 to Discuss the Use of Data and AI in Dairy Herd Management

One of the main topics will be the use of data to make decisions about herd health, productivity, and reproduction. Participants will discuss what information farmers need, how to improve data exchange between systems, and how to apply analytical results in day-to-day farm management.

Richard Miller, a dairy farmer and representative of the UK’s National Milk Records (NMR), will speak about the development of herd recording services. According to the conference program, participation in herd recording in the UK remains above 80%. Miller will examine how NMR’s services have changed and why herd and milk recording remain relevant to farmers.

Matt Makin and Peter Best will present Digital Dairy AI, an emerging platform that analyzes data from multiple sources on a farm and identifies animal health and production risks. Stephanie Bullen of Dairy Australia will share findings from her research into the factors that influence farmers’ use of data in herd management. Justin Walsh, a farmer from New South Wales, will discuss his experience of using AI in dairy farm business management.

Other sessions will cover changes in genetic evaluation, the use of beef genetics in dairy herds, the integration of IVF into breeding programs, and the rearing of replacement heifers. According to DataGene CEO Emily Piper, participants will examine how genomic information, mating decisions, and heifer management can be brought together.

Herd ’27 is held every two years. The conference is jointly organized by DataGene, Dairy Australia, Holstein Australia, and Australia’s National Herd Improvement Association (NHIA).