Sustainability at the heart of milk-recording bonus for dairy farmers

The bonus scheme was one of the recent Cogeca European Award for Co-operative Innovation finalists

Milk recording allows easy identification of superior cows to breed replacements from and allows tracking the SCC of each cow. File picture: Larry Cummins

Since 2019, there has been a 30% increase in the number of Dairygold Co-op milk suppliers who milk record, and a 115% increase in the number participating in a Herd Health programme.

These farmers have helped to achieve a 15.7% increase in average herd EBI, a 2.8% increase in milk solids, a Dairygold dairy herds replacement rate reduction of 6.8%, an 8.8% reduction in somatic cell count (SCC), a 2.4% improvement in milk quality and a 5.5% reduction in carbon emissions per litre of milk.