Could stem cells put bull studs out of business?
Plus, New Zealand to test measuring cattle methane emissions from space.
This report about scientists making progress toward creating life without bull semen is interesting. I learned that when stem cells are left alone, they will spontaneously self-assemble and try to make an embryo. Scientists are now trying to see if they will do the same thing inside of a cow. It’s cloning 2.0. While still a long way off, this is an easy-to-read, informative article.
Read the full article here.
New Zealand to test measuring cattle methane emissions from space
This newsletter has highlighted before the capability to measure methane emissions from space.
Now, researchers in New Zealand (NZ) plan to use similar technology to compare methane emissions measured from space from those on the ground. A dedicated methane-detecting satellite will fly over NZ’s largest dairy areas every month to measure methane emissions.
Read more here.
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Methane vaccine startup raises funding
A startup company that is working to develop a vaccine for cows to decrease their enteric methane production recently received $26.5 million in funding. ArkeaBio says its vaccine will be innovative, cost-effective and scalable.
AgriZeroNZ, one of the five Series A round investors, said this about their investment in the company: “A methane vaccine for ruminant animals is internationally recognized as the ‘holy grail’ to deliver methane reduction at low cost and mass scale. It could be one of the best long-term options to really shift the dial on agricultural emissions and a powerful tool globally. We’re really pleased to be supporting ArkeaBio and its innovative approach to develop this important solution.”
Read more here.
Manufacturer makes deciphering cattle ultrasound images easier
Detecting reproductive tract anomalies just got easier. Ultrasound manufacturer IMV Technologies recently announced new software that uses color to highlight and label bovine reproductive structures such as follicles and corpus luteums. The software, called BovIntel, can display the measurements of these to the nearest millimeter. It works alongside the company's Easi-Scan:Go bovine ultrasound scanner to automatically identify and measure important features on ultrasound images in real time.
“Essentially, it enables a vet to quickly and accurately assess the ovarian health of a cow, so they can advise on how to achieve conception at the earliest opportunity,” says Alan Picken, imaging innovation director for the company.
Read more here.
Research shows transgenic cows could produce insulin for humans in their milk
Imagine a closed, large-herd dairy producing milk that could be harvested and processed into human insulin for Type 1 diabetics. Researchers have recently shown that cows whose DNA has been altered before birth at the embryo stage are capable of producing human insulin in their milk.
Many regulatory hurdles exist before such a future would be possible. For starters, genetically altering cattle DNA intended for human consumption is not legal in the U.S. However, this research gives new meaning to the mantra “food as medicine.”
Read the full article here.
Cows could help combat one antibiotic-resistant bacteria strain
But wait, there’s other news in the “cows are awesome” category. Researchers have shown that a peptide produced by cows can break through bacterial biofilm and combat a strain for bacterial infection that is otherwise resistant to antibiotics and has a 50% death rate in humans.
Read more here.
From the pages of Progressive Dairy and Progressive Cattle magazines:
Learn more about how AI facial recognition is being used in the beef cattle industry.
Check out the five companies that recently won a Nexus Innovation Award. One of the award winners uses computer vision to enable just-in-time movement of cows that are about to calve; another makes cow waterers smarter, cleaner and less prone to disseminate diseases; one brings cutting-edge in-plant microbe technology for corn silage to the dairy industry; one primes cows’ immune systems and binds pathogens better; and finally, one of winning products looks like ice cream sprinkles and enables a whole different way of feeding dry cows.
Can 3D cameras really return on investment on dairies?
Dairy profit projections from ZISK
Projected profitability for the next 12 months for two dairy herd sizes IMPROVED in recent profit projections from ZISK.
ZISK is a profit projection smartphone app that tracks individual dairy farm profitability based on current CME board prices. Projections for a 1,000-cow dairy producing an average of 80 pounds of milk per cow and a 2,500-cow dairy producing an average of 85 pounds of milk per cow are provided.
12-month dairy farm profit projections (as of May 23, 2024):
1,000-cow dairy = $675,000 (UP about $164,000 since March)
2,500-cow dairy = $2.460 million (UP about $456,000 since March)