Keeping Cow with Calf
The project seeks to establish evidence based information on cow-with-calf dairying systems.
Keeping Cow with Calf - Bringing Innovation to Dairying In Scotland is an SRDP Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF) project, jointly funded by the Scottish Government and the European Union, and led by SRUC.
Project key objectives
- Establishing a network for those interested in cow-with-calf systems, including farmers, industry and the wider dairy sector.
- Interviews with those running a cow-with-calf system, to understand positives and negatives of the system and a survey to capture wider dairy sector feedback.
- Economic analysis of the cow-with-calf system at a farm level; investigating calf growth, cow longevity, animal health and more.
- Benchmarking of the cow-with-calf system; investigating how it performs in terms of human, animal, environmental and financial health.
- Analysing business models and marketing options for cow-with-calf dairy products, including gathering processor opinion.
- Student projects exploring various aspects of the system; maternal investment, reasons for variation in yields across lactations and more.
- Producing a prospectus of the cow-with-calf model; highlighting results gathered during the project - aimed at those considering conversion, the wider dairy industry and supporters.
Vist the project website to learn more
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