Birth of Scots IVF calf hailed as ‘significant’ step in making dairy industry greener

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The birth of a calf using IVF has been hailed as "hugely significant" by vets in a project to breed more environmentally-friendly cows.Cool Cows, a project involving Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) and Paragon Veterinary Group, aims to breed cows which produce less of the greenhouse gas methane.The calf, named Hilda, was born into the Dumfries-based Langhill Herd, which has been a source of data for the UK dairy industry for over 50 years.

As well as being the first in the herd's 16th generation, she is its first to be conceived using IVF.Scientists on the project said using the technique, which involved Hilda’s mother’s eggs being fertilised in a lab, meant the next generation of the herd arrived eight months earlier than was previously possible.

With the process to be repeated, scientists said it would double the rate of “genetic gain” in the herd, and so speed up the process of selecting and breeding more “methane-efficient” animals.Professor Richard Dewhurst, from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), which is one of the partners in the project, said: “With global consumption of dairy produce continuing to grow, breeding livestock for sustainability is extremely important.

The birth of Hilda is potentially a hugely significant moment for the UK dairy industry.“We will use a new genomic assessment alongside existing production and environmental efficiency indices to select elite, methane-efficient heifers for breeding.