Scotland is firmly at the heart of the UK genomics industry with one of the UK's largest testing facilities located just outside Ayr and near the racecourse.
The laboratory, owned by Neogen, is the only one in the UK accredited to carry out genomic and BVD testing from a single sample, thereby providing farmers with invaluable information on which to base rearing decisions.
Timely and complete data are the basis of better decision-making to improve farm performance and according to Neogen technical sales specialist, Rob Horn, this is no more important than when making decisions about which calves to invest in, to breed, and rear from.
“Carefully choosing heifers for rearing will maximise genetic progress while minimising the expense of raising calves that won't make a significant contribution to the herd," he said.
He added that two things are essential to making the best decisions with the first being a genomic assessment of every calf to identify those with the best genetic merit. With 50% of the genetics in any mating coming from the female, ranking future females on genetic merit for the traits identified is essential.
“Genomics enables individuals to understand the true potential of an animal to really assess how good an animal will be. Different parts of the DNA are associated with the positive and negative traits that will influence an animal’s future performance and genomics will help predict how well a calf will perform when it enters the herd against others in the herd. This means the best genetic merit calves can be identified, which gives herd managers greater control."
The second is knowing the BVD status of calves thereby ensuring herds do not incur costs rearing BVD positive animals.
Mr Horn added: “Carrying out both tests from a single sample has big benefits. It saves time taking multiple samples and reduces stress on a calf by handling them less."
The company is the only one in the UK able to provide genomic and BVD testing from a single sample. Formed in 1982, Neogen provides genomic tests for dairy and beef cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, fish, and domestic pets. They work closely with governments and commercial food companies. In 2022 they performed more than 5.5m genomic tests globally.
The global genomics testing company with six laboratories worldwide, operates in the UK from its bespoke dedicated facility in Ayr opened in 2015.
When farmers contact the company, the first person they speak to is one of Scott Brown’s customer services team.
“When a farmer first calls, our objective is to make sure we understand their requirements clearly and get their account set up so they can start testing quickly and we are ready to handle the samples when they come in,” said Mr Brown.
“Some farmers want to dip their toe in the water, testing just a few animals. Some want to genomically test the whole herd, while others will want BVD testing as well. As genomics is a comparative tool, it is important that enough animals are tested so we are happy to advise on the percentage of the animals to test and then arrange for the required test kits to be sent.”
When samples are returned, they come under the care of another Glasgow University graduate, laboratory manager Donna Merrylees, and her team of 40 professionals. The lab is operated to meticulous standards with BVD, and genomic testing is accredited to UKAS ISO 17025, the international standard for testing laboratories, whilst the BVD results are also recognised and accepted by BVD Free England and Scot EID eradication schemes.
All samples are logged in and given a unique ID ensuring full traceability throughout the laboratory. Samples are quality control checked and allocated for testing.
Where samples are to be BVD tested, this is done first using the standard ELISA test. If the results show the calf is BVD positive, genomics testing is put on hold and the owner is contacted to see if they still want to proceed with genomic testing. In most cases, BVD+ animals are not genomically tested as they will not be reared.
All BVD negative samples and samples supplied just for genomic testing then go through a process of DNA extraction and purification. The next stage is genotyping where the DNA is amplified and processed on a custom Neogen microarray to give hundreds of thousands of individual DNA data points. It is these that are analysed by the analysis laboratory to give the individual traits that are reported back to the farmer.
The objective is to get the samples processed and results back on the farm as quickly as possible, with a turnaround of just a few days for BVD and a couple of weeks for the genomic testing which is helped by having all the testing on one UK site.
Sending the results back is the responsibility of the customer services team. Each customer is allocated a dedicated team member who is the prime point of contact thereby allowing good relationships to develop.
Scott Brown added: “The Igenity results are evaluated according to the AHDB standards. They give an accurate picture of how good the animal will be looking at the traits all identified by the UK evaluation. These include production traits including milk yield, milk constituent yield, and percent and £PLI.
“Our Igenity service also gives management traits such as Fertility Index, Temperament, Ease of Milking, Somatic Cell Count, Locomotion, and Condition Score plus a full set of type traits. One test gives you a complete picture of a cow.”
The results are uploaded to an online portal making it as easy as possible to access with the customer services team able to help customers make the best use of the data, either on the phone or by arranging a visit from one of our technical specialists.
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