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As part of the newly launched Farming for Sustainability – Innovation Scheme, the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) is inviting applications from farmers to apply to an innovation-focused study visit to the Netherlands.
This initiative will provide participants with direct exposure to international leaders in dairy advancement, offering valuable insights into cutting-edge developments in genotyping, breeding evaluation and modern breeding technologies within the dairy sector.
The Innovation Visit will run across three days from Monday 31 August to Wednesday 2 September 2026. This is a unique opportunity to learn how genotyping technology is being used to determine with much greater accuracy the genetic potential of Dutch dairy cows, with breeding values being produced for over 50 traits related to milk production, health feed efficiency and dairy type, and being adopted on farm.
The trip will begin with a visit to CRV Headquarters who conduct the national evaluations and use the DNA profile produced from genotyping to produce a genetic proof. Besides the breeding values, the genomic test also gives details on the level of inbreeding and an insight into the presence or absence of specific genetic traits such as red factor, polled, A2-milk and kappa casein, and various lethal genes such as the fertility haplotypes. Genotyping provides a reliable basis to determine which calves to rear as replacements and is ultimately be used in Dutch mating programmes to determine the most appropriate mating for particular animals.
The programme will also include a visit to a commercial dairy farm participating in a national reference population, where detailed performance data is integrated with advanced technologies. Alongside production and fertility records, phenotypic data such as individual cow liveweight and feed intake are captured using precision systems combined with 3D imaging and methane measurement technologies. This information is then linked with genetic data to generate robust breeding proofs, particularly in relation to feed efficiency and reduced methane emissions, supporting more sustainable dairy production.
The visit will also comprise a visit to the 500-cow Dairy Campus of Wageningen University who are a world leading facility in dairy research. The focus here will be on sustainable and profitable breeding practices including the breeding of cows with a lower genetic predisposition to emit methane and the integration of breeding with nutrition that include production on low protein diets.
The final visit will be at CRV’s elite Breeding Centre where as well as seeing the bull stud, farmers will have the opportunity to see reproductive technologies such as ovum pickup being conducted on some of the country’s highest genetic merit cows to continue genetic improvement into the next generation.
Over the three days farmers will get to see at first-hand how genotyping, the use of phenotypic data and reproductive technologies are being used to drive genetic progress in the Dutch dairy herd, keeping them at the forefront of dairy breeding worldwide, especially when breeding for environmental sustainability.
Applications are invited from one member or employee of a farm business, who is 18 years old or over on the application closing date. Eighteen places are available on this visit; these will be allocated with preference given to those who meet the selection criteria. Applicants must commit to attending pre and post trip training with dates to be arranged. Preference will be given to applicants who have not been on a previous Innovation Visit.
Farming for Sustainability – Innovation Scheme, is part of the Sustainable Agriculture Programme. Costs associated with setting up the visit, accommodation, travel and meals will be covered by the programme. Participants will be expected to meet any additional costs, including farm relief and travel insurance.
Farmers interested in participating can find out more details and complete an application form at: https://bit.ly/3R7MOMK. Applications will close at 4:00pm on Friday 29 May 2026.
