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The CREAM student learning project at CAFRE’s Greenmount Campus provides Higher National Diploma Agriculture and BSc Agricultural Technology Degree students with the unique opportunity to manage a high genetic merit Holstein herd. The herd is milked three times a day, with students carrying out the routine tasks including milking, feeding and breeding decisions. The students leading the project this year hosted the first of their biannual CREAM project Advisory Board day meetings earlier this month. CREAM students provided updates of recent performance from their feeding, breeding, finance and promotion, and milking and health teams. One large area for discussion was the significant improvement in milk composition over the last three years with the herd currently obtaining a rolling average of 9918 litres at 3.93 percent butterfat and 3.14 percent protein in October 2008, compared to 9710 litres at 3.76 percent butterfat and 3.04 percent protein in October 2005. This improvement can be partially attributed to the change in bull selection criteria in recent years, with greater focus being placed on milk composition PTAs. The students also showed a DVD of a typical day in the life of a CREAM student. We hope you enjoy the production
Or read details of the information conveyed in the movie Board Day booklet December 2009 (PDF 2.63 MB)
Pictured (back left to right) Advisory Board Members Mark Scott (CAFRE), Dr Michael Mullan (CAFRE), Dr Sam Campbell (AI Services), Michael Graham (Farm Manager, CAFRE) |
