Waikato sharemilker launches AI-driven cow breeding tool

NZ Herald

2 days ago

Traditionally, Zonderop said, he would take a month, post-calving/pre-mating, to develop a spreadsheet of the best bulls for his 380-cow herd at Te Poi, near Matamata.
This would initially involve thumbing through dairy herd improvement companies' bull catalogues.
He said farmers would sometimes select multiple sires to cover their herds, or simply the 'bull of the day' from the listings.
With PCBS, he can input data on bulls and cows covering a variety of preferred traits.
'Everything is the individual farmer's preference.
'What we are all looking for, though, is peak milk production.'
Zonderop narrowed the field down to eight bulls this season for his home herd, with PCBS producing a report in less than a minute.
Idea hatched
Perfect Cow Breeding Solutions founder Matthew Zonderop.
Correcting a mistake via AI while using several workbooks for a spreadsheet led to the business idea being hatched two years ago.
Zonderop initially used the system for his own herd, but decided to create a business that would help other dairy farmers achieve greater herd efficiency and milk production.
He pays a monthly subscription for the AI programme and on-charges farmers for inputting data and generating a report on the top bulls for their cows.
Zonderop said that apart from a quick conversion of data, his system also uses simple language: 'farmer-speak'.
'It is designed to help dairy farmers make precise breeding decisions for their herd, both now and into the future.
'The mission is simple: to maximise herd performance, improve milk production, and drive sustainable profits for dairy farmers using cutting-edge science and technology.'
Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Matthew Zonderop on The Country below:
Zonderop said the RAS database contained a list of about 27,000 bulls available for use by New Zealand farmers.
This is narrowed down by the preferred breed of bull that farmers wish to use.
Using the RAS database – and farmers' individual preferences – a bull's desired traits to be passed on are identified.
Zonderop said a clear breeding strategy was vital in building a stronger herd.
Leading bulls were selected in PCBS on their 'genetic merit' through established breeding indexes.
These include Breeding Worth (BW), which ranks cows and bulls on their ability to meet the National Breeding Objective: to breed dairy cattle that efficiently convert feed into profit.
Desired traits
Desired traits for bulls to pass on in cows include milk volume, liveweight, milk protein, milk fat, gestation length, somatic cell count, udder conformation, body condition score and fertility.
Zonderop said data used in PCBS also included Production Worth, which ranks a cow based on its expected lifetime performance.
Added to all evaluations is genomics, the breeding of dairy cows using genotypes (DNA) to predict an animal's potential for future profitability.
He said this examines how genes interact to influence the animal's development and growth.
Farmers had an idea of a cow's traits from its parents, but were dependent on its production information to determine how reliable this information was, he said.
Zonderop said genomic information could better predict which production qualities an animal had inherited and provide a much more reliable Breeding Worth at a younger age.
The farmer sends the final list of preferred bulls to a herd improvement company, which supplies the associated semen, which is administered on-farm by an artificial insemination technician.
PCBS data for each farm is reviewed annually and changes are made as required.
Zonderop said it would 'take generations' for results to come through, as calves graduated into the milking herd.
He now also uses artificial intelligence for all his grazing plans and feed budgeting, while soil test results are put into the system for fertiliser application recommendations on his property.
In another extension, PCBS processes data on cow health in his herd, which he receives from a sensor inside the stomach of each animal.
Zonderop, the Waikato and Matamata Federated Farmers' Dairy Section chairman, was on-site in the Rural Advocacy Hub at Fieldays last month and said visitors had learnt about PCBS either through word-of-mouth or online.
'They seemed to be impressed and enthused, and keen to know more.'