Genocells

GenoCells is a revolutionary technology that allows us to identify the highest contributors to bulk tank SCC by genotyping a single bulk tank milk sample.

Key Benefits:
  • GenoCells is suited to those that require extra SCC surveillance at different time points throughout the lactation to facilitate more effective bulk tank SCC management.
  • GenoCells is a quick low effort method of identifying high contributing cows from a single bulk tank sample.
  • GenoCells can be used in conjunction with milk recording SCC results to give more points of information throughout the lactation for minimal effort and is less disruptive to the milking process.

 

PROGRESSIVE GENETICS

Genocells: Next Generation Milk Testing

GenoCells is suited to those that require extra SCC surveillance at different time points throughout the lactation to facilitate more effective bulk tank SCC management.

GenoCells is a quick low effort method of identifying high contributing cows from a single bulk tank sample.

GenoCells can be used in conjunction with milk recording SCC results to give more points of information throughout the lactation for minimal effort and is less disruptive to the milking process.

After 4 milk recordings are complete GenoCell and milk recording results are combined for categorisation which leads to easy interpretation of results.
This will allow more informed decisions to be made to control and manage SCC both during the lactation and at the end of lactation when choices are being made for the dry period.

All cows must be Genotyped prior to participating in the GenoCells programme.

The herd must be a member of ICBF herd plus.

The herd must be sighed up to complete 4 milk recordings in the calendar year.

At least one milk recording must be completed before a GenoCell test can take place.

Once all cows are Genotyped contact Munster Bovine milk recording department indicating the number of GenoCells tests you intend to do. A permission form allowing Munster Bovine access to the herds Genotype results will need to be completed and returned to the office.

The ICBF Herd plus app will need to be downloaded there is no cost associated with this.
When Munster Bovine have access to the Genotypes bottles will be scanned and associated to the herd. The bottles, an instruction sheet for taking samples and a stamped addressed envelope will be posted to the herdowner.

PROGRESSIVE GENETICS

How do I take a sample?

The Genocell sample must be taken from a bulk tank with one milking only in the tank.

Agitate the bulk tank for at least 5 minutes before taking the sample. If the milk is not well agitated, the sample will not be representative, and this will affect the accuracy of results.

The Genocell sample must be taken from a bulk tank with one milking only in the tank.

Agitate the bulk tank for at least 5 minutes before taking the sample. If the milk is not well agitated, the sample will not be representative, and this will affect the accuracy of results.

Collect a sample from the bulk tank in a clean container and place a subsample in one of the GenCells bottles provided. Shake the bottle to distribute the preservative.

Login to the ICBF Herd plus app and go to the GenoCells module

The app will have a list of the cows that have a registered calving date. Cows are automatically selected as being in the tank once a calving date is registered and they are Genotyped. Ungenotyped cows will appear once they have a calving date registered, but they are not automatically selected. Unmark any cows that did not contribute milk to the tank. Ungenotyped cows in a sample will affect the results.

Scan the bar code of the bottle that contains the Genocells bulk sample using the camera on your mobile phone. There is an option to key in the bar code manually if necessary.

The app will give you a summary of the number of cows in the tank please ensure that this matches the number of cows that contributed to the bulk tank.

Place the bar-coded bottle in the envelope provided and post the sample the same day.

Genocell testing schedule

Genocell testing is carried out in the laboratory on a Monday and Wednesday only. The DNA extraction process takes 4 days, and the results are reported on day 5.

GenoCells results.

The Genocell results will be reported back to the app??, and they will also be emailed to the herdowner.

Test day Report: Herds will receive results in order of percentage cellular contribution for 10% of their herd with a minimum of 10 cows and a maximum of 20 cows being displayed on the report.

Summary Report: A summary report will be available after the herd has completed 4 milk recording tests. Only cows that have a minimum of 3 milk recording tests in a lactation will be displayed on the report.   The summary report will include both milk SCC results and Genocell bands. The cows’ SCC lactation status will be also shown and takes both milk recording and Genocell results are used to determine the lactation status. The SCC lactation status may differ from the milk recording report. The following is an explanation of the SCC lactation status.

  • Red – Persistently infected – These cows have two consecutive tests over 200,000 SCC in the current lactation
  • Orange – Recently infected – These cows exceeded 200,000 SCC at the current test and were less than that at the previous test
  • Blue – Recently cured – These cows have a SCC result of less than 200,000 in the current test but had an SCC result over 200,000 at some point in the lactation.
  • Green – Healthy cows – These are cows that have no test in the current lactation exceeding 200,000 SCC.

SNP (Snip) Size: The size of the snip that was used to analyse the genotype of the cows in the herd can affect the GenoCell results. The larger the snip size that is used the more variations that can be considered for the GenoCells calculations.

Twins Monozygotic (identical) twins are considered being genetically identical, therefore they cannot be differentiated using Genotyping. If there are identical twins in the herd GenoCells will not be able to distinguish the cows and therefore each cow will get an average of the cellular responsibility of the two cows.

Ungenotyped Cows

If a Genocell test contained ungenotyped cows the following message will appear on the report. “Please Note: The presence of non-genotyped cows in this bulk sample will affect accuracy of the results of other cows.”

In the summary report tests with ungenotyped cows will have an Asterix beside the date with the following message

Please Note: The presence of non-genotyped cows in this bulk sample will affect accuracy of the results of other cows.”

If ungenotyped cows are genotyped after a Genocell report is generated a new report reflecting the changes will automatically be generated and overwrite the existing report.

Sour SCC Bulk tank sample

If the bulk tank sample was sour and there will no banding or color coding on the test day report. On the summary report there will be a symbol next to the test date and the following message will be displayed” The Genocell sample was unable to be tested for SCC therefor somatic cell count banding cannot be determined for this test.”

Regenerating Reports

If a farmer contacts the office after he receives his report and informs us that the cows he marked in the tank are incorrect it will be possible to edit the cows and regenerate a report. This regeneration will happen overnight.

If a famer contacts the office with Issues with the results of Genocell bulk tank SCC sample i.e. his Genocell SCC bulk tank result was 15 and his creamery result on the same day was 120 the office will have the ability to remove the SCC banding and color coding and giving him a report which only contains the % contribution. This test will be treated the same as a test with a sour sample on the summary report.

FAQs

If there are a small number of cows that are not genotyped, these cows must be excluded from the tank that the sample is being taken from. The tank sample must only contain genotyped cows.

No as the non-genotyped cows  will affect the accuracy of the results of the other cows.

The objective of this service is not to reduce the number of standard milk recordings it is to give additional insights at different time points throughout the year. A minimum of 4 milk recordings are required.

The sample will be tested but there will be a significant delay in the herdowner receiving the results. Office personnel will need to contact the herdowner to update the app to establish cows not in the tank for the milking that the sample was taken.

No, the lab will only be able to test bar coded that were associated to a herd prior to posting.

The Genocell summary report is only available after 4 milk recordings

It is important that the bulk tank is agitated so that a representative DNA sample is collected. If the sample is not representative this will fundamentally affect the reliability of the results.

To maximise the accuracy of the cellular responsibility it is essential that cows contributing to the bulk tank are identified correctly. If cows are not properly identified cellular responsibility may be falsely attributed to close relatives.

Yes, however the cow will not automatically be selected on the APP and will need to be added by the herdowner.

NEED MILK RECORDING?

From DIY Milk Recording to Manual Milk Recording, Progressive Genetics offer a number of services in relation to milk.

Progressive Genetics is a Meath based, farmer owned Co-operative with a workforce of over 300, in fact with 3,400 Irish farmer shareholders, it’s the largest farmer owned cattle breeding co-op in the Republic of Ireland.

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