Final OptiMIR Scientific and Expert Meeting: From milk analysis to advisory tools (Palais des Congrès, Namur, Belgium, 16-17 April 2015)

• Main Authors: Friedrichs, P., Bastin, C., Dehareng, F., Wickham, B., Massart, X.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux 2015-01-01
• Series: Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Société et Environnement
• Subjects: Dairy industry; livestock management; infrared spectrometry; research; Europe
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11006/181

The dairy industry represents 13% of the turnover of the European food industry and north-west Europe produces 60% of the European milk. However, in 2014 the milk market has experienced a substantial fall in milk prices of some 50%. At these lower prices for milk the business of many milk producers is not sustainable. Due to recent advances, the mid-infrared (MIR) analysis of milk performed within milk recording (MR) promises more information than used traditionally. Beside the established MR parameters (protein, fat, lactose, and urea), the spectra could provide additional information on cows' status for a range of characteristics (e.g. fertility, health, energy balance, feeding and methane emission). Thus, the spectra routinely obtained from the MIR analysis of milk offer a possibility to develop novel, cost-effective tools which enable milk producers to improve the management of their dairy herds and in turn reduce the costs for milk production. The OptiMIR project aims to improve the sustainability of the dairy sector by developing and providing innovative, economical and standardized MIR-based tools for the management of dairy herds. Additionally, the project aims to create and promote a framework for the cross-border exchange of information and practices to enhance the service of milk recording organizations (MROs) in north-west Europe and to strengthen their competitiveness. In order to achieve these objectives, in 2011 the European OptiMIR project was officially launched for a 5-year-period. The INTERREG IV B funded OptiMIR project is a cooperation between three research centers, three universities, 11 MROs, and one laboratory from six north-western European countries. To accomplish the goals, the different processes from the identification of the priority areas to the development, validation, and implementation of the novel tools were outlined in three working packages comprising 10 actions. A common transnational database combines the phenotypic data of the cows and the MIR spectra from the European MR, which enables the detection of relevant phenotypic traits and their reflection in the MIR spectra. Additionally, a standardization has been installed among all instruments of the milk analyzing laboratories involved in the OptiMIR project to ensure a stable prediction over time and a correction of deviations. Due to the monthly standardization process the developed prediction equations can be used in routine on all instruments taking part in the standardization. Different models for the prediction of the pregnancy status, energy balance, the methane emission as well as the detection of ketosis and acidosis have been developed within OptiMIR. It is worth mentioning, that those models predict the status of the animal with different accuracies and that progress on development and implementation differs between the models. Some of the tools developed within OptiMIR are already used in the field and provide dairy farmers with useful information e.g. about the health status or methane emission of a certain cow. The OptiMIR project also resulted in a collaborative planning on an economic interest group formation of the participating MROs. The final OptiMIR scientific and expert meeting disseminates the results obtained through OptiMIR more detailed and also provides an overview of recent advances in the development of management tools for the dairy sector. Initial application of the MIR-based tools has shown their potential for providing dairy farmers with information to improve their herd management in a cost-effective way. However, further research and development is required to finish a greater extend of MIR-based tools so that north-western European stakeholders can acquire competitive advantage in the dairy sector.