Derbyshire and Peak District farmers look to radical new genetic data - to help with the cost of living crisis

The next meeting of the Peak Farmers Group, a collaborative network established in 2022, will feature a presentation from the national Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) on exciting scientific breakthroughs which could reshape the industry.

Selective breeding has long been a key part of farmers’ work, but genetic sequencing is allowing such decisions to be guided from microscopic level of DNA all the way up to the 21st century’s biggest challenges, such as climate breakdown.

Modern genetic indexes – such as those which will improve feed efficiency or reduce greenhouse gas emissions – have the potential added advantage of being cumulative and permanent, building up over generations to improve livestock quality across the industry.

ADHB spokesman Steve West said: “Genetic indexes are a group of economically important traits combined into one value that allows us to assess ‘how good’ a cow is. This is compared to all other cows.

“Every single British cow in a milk recorded herd is genetically analysed by AHDB so farmers can see which cows are their best cows and which they can prioritise breeding a replacement heifer from.”

Sounding something like the ‘moneyball’ approach which has transformed football’s transfer market over the last decade, EnviroCow – one of the new indexes attracting a lot of attention – is built on research 30 years of research and data collection.

It assigns each bull a score from around -3 to +3, where the highest positive figures are achieved by those which pass on the best environmental credentials to their offspring.

In simple terms, the data tracks those cows which release the lowest amount of greenhouse gases via burps and farts, relative to their lifespan, the amount of milk they produce and food they require.

Steve said: “Different herds have different breeding goals. For example, some herds producing milk for cheese production will be interested in butterfat and protein and will breed heifers from bulls genetically selected for these characteristics, some herds where grazing is the key will breed from bulls genetically better at converting grass, etc.

“The best breeding bulls are bred from the country’s best bulls and cows and semen can be sold to herds all across the country. We now have bulls that are much better for feed efficiency, environmental credentials and bTB resistance.”

Making improvements such as this can really help address some of the challenges in farming, as having the right animal to work with will help any farming business improve its long-term efficiency.

Efforts to improve the herd yields have become more urgent over the past year, with Britain’s agricultural sector gripped by the same economic storms affecting households at the consumer end of the market, and farmers are largely powerless to control the costs they encounter.

Steve said: “The cost of the three Fs – feed, fertiliser and fuel – has increased dramatically across the last 12 months. Fertiliser price saw a four-to-five fold increase, energy five-to-seven fold and feed nearly two fold, which can contribute to 42-49 per cent of cash costs on farm.

“With a late spring and a very dry summer last year, many farmers have found it challenging to grow enough silage to see them through another long winter.”

He added: “While milk price was slow to respond to the rapid rise in on farm costs, it did eventually increase but even this is at threat as we approach the spring with a slight oversupply and a response to food inflation suppressing the farmgate price. Basically it means that many farmers will still have the high cost but will not have the high selling price.”

At the same time, uncertainty around rural support schemes once delivered by the European Union and other external factors will be playing heavily on farmers’ minds, as they also wrestle with challenges such as slashing the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Unveiling the Government’s post-Brexit subsidy plans on Thursday, January 26, environment secretary Therese Coffey said: “Farmers are at the heart of our economy - producing the food on our tables as well as being the custodians of the land it comes from.

“These two roles go hand-in-hand and we are speeding up the roll out of our farming schemes so that everyone can be financially supported as they protect the planet while producing food more sustainably.”

But the details of the scheme were given a cautious welcome by organisations including the Tenant Farmers’ Association, with questions left unanswered in areas such as the Peak District.

Chief executive George Dunn said: “Much of the expanded offering targets farmers on arable and grass systems in the lowlands. However, the hills and uplands of our country have the potential of delivering huge amounts of environmental goods and services to wider society alongside their ability to produce high quality food.”

Farmers can find out more about how and why data is analysed for breeding characteristics, indexes and what goes into them, at the free presentation from Marco Winters, head of animal genetics at ADHB.

The event is taking place at Old House Farm in Friden, near Hartington, on Tuesday, February 28, 10am to 12.30pm, followed by lunch.

To book a place please contact the Peak Farmers Group via [email protected] or 07483 373435.

For all the latest updates from the group, which is coordinated by Bakewell charity the Farming Life Centre, go to facebook.com/PeakFarmersGroup.

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