| 2018-09-17 |    |
NMR Launches New ‘Smart' Tool
NMR launched its new herd analysis tool inGENEious at the UK Dairy Day, Telford. Available to all milk recorded herds, inGENEious can interrogate the herd’s up-to-date genetic and genomic data and provide a more accurate breeding strategy.
“We are encouraging producers to reap more benefit from the genetic information provided through their milk records,” says NMR’s Nick Kirby. “InGENEious makes this easy. It’s a simple tool that allows producers to analyse the herd’s genetic data on line.”
inGENEIOUS NMR's new smart tool turns genetic data into managment information
InGENEious is available through NMR’s Herd Companion; a web based dairy management system free of charge to all milk recording producers - not just NMR customers.
Once logged in to Herd Companion, they can access the latest inGENEious module and see their herd status, then benchmark animals against AHDB national averages and view and compare genetic trends.
“Producers can set their own goals and targets – perhaps ranking cows on PLI and key PTAs where they identify improvements could be made in offspring from specific animals,” adds Mr Kirby.
“They can then arrange cows for mating into three groups – green, amber and red. The green group maybe those cows to breed to sexed semen or a dairy bull, the amber group might be those to breed to a beef bull and the red group with cows not to breed from.”
This information can be used for discussions with breeding advisers and considered when formulating the herd’s breeding strategy and therefore can help manage semen requirements.
Genetic data, PLIs and PTAs are updated three times a year and the results of new genomic tests are published monthly, directly onto each herd’s inGENEious system.
“InGENEious is an independent system that has been designed for herds with genetic and genomic data,” says Nick Kirby. “It analyses this data in a more systematic way and makes it much easier to see the strengths and weaknesses, rather than relying on raw data or gut feel. It turns genetic figures into valuable management information.
“And those with genomic data have the advantage of improved reliability on their younger animals. This makes the inGENEious tool even more valuable in the herd breeding programme.”
