Episode 09 (Season 2) - Future-friendly Farming - Dairy Farming in 2040

Consumer trends are constantly changing. What consumers think and want impacts the food supply chain and, as a result, your farm and cattle breeding. 

But how will societal and consumer trends affect cattle breeding in the future? What will farming look like in 2040?

To discuss the trends and technologies that will define the farming of tomorrow, we invited an expert geneticist and cattle breeder and an international, award-winning journalist specialising in all aspects of agriculture.

Guests:
Lars Nielsen, Chief Breeding & Production Officer, at VikingGenetics
Chris McCullough, Freelance International Agri-journalist

Host: 
Hielke Wiersma

Transcript

0:10

Society's trends are always changing, and what consumers want affect food supply chain, including your farm and cattle breeding. But how will these trends impact cattle breeding in the future? And what will farming look like in 2040? To discuss these trends and technologies that will define the farming of tomorrow, we're joined by an expert cattle breeder and geneticist with 20+ years of experience and an international multi-award winning journalist specialized in all aspects of farming and agriculture. Lars Nielsen, chief breeding and production officer at VikingGenetics and Chris McCullough, an international freelance journalist based out of Belfast, Northern Ireland. This is the BreedCast produced by VikingGenetics. I'm your host Hielke Wiersma. Hello. And welcome to both of you. Lars and Chris, thanks for joining us. Hello. Good morning. Chris, you've been in the industry for many years. Tell us how farming has evolved in your years of reporting. Yes, well, I've been a journalist now for over 21 years. And when I started journalism, I was sending a copy through to the editors via a fax machine. And now I'm using all sorts of technical gizmos and things like that. And I guess farming has evolved in the same way. When I was younger, we were milking the cows in a parlour with no automatic cluster removal or just put the machines on by hand. Now we're looking at robots that can do these types of things. So it has moved pretty quickly- 20 years is such a long time. But technology, knowledge, genetics, breeding everything has moved so fast in the last 20 years that a dairy farmer who was finishing 20 years ago wouldn't recognize the industry today. Lars, what's your take on that? What's been the most impactful from your point of view? It's no doubt that the last 20 years the biggest change has been introduction of genomic selection in 2008 and that has developed a lot since that. We have got much more detailed information on the genetics we use. We have got much faster genetic progress and the acceptance of the Nordic style of breeding, as we say, with the focus on the health traits, and the functionality has been developed a lot and it has been much easier to introduce with genomic selection. So I will say that's the biggest change and the biggest impact I have seen during my work time here. So of course consumers and consumer trends influence what we produce and the food supply and, you know, the farmers’ way of farming, basically. Chris, in your mind, what are the most influential trends at the moment? Well, there's big emphasis on what consumers think and what they say and what they want. And it's influencing the supermarkets and the processors. I guess the trend at the moment is consumers want to know exactly where their food came from, when it was produced, where it was produced, how it was produced. And that's put a big pressure on processors, supermarkets and farmers to do that, to get that knowledge to them. Sometimes I wonder if you stopped 100 consumers in the street, how many would actually care where their food came from. But it is a trend that started to emerge as some debate is starting to take effect on farms. And unfortunately it's becoming a bit of a shackle to the farmers and how they do their daily business. Yeah, and I guess some even would argue that are we even producing milk and beef as we do today in the setting that we do. I mean, factory produced milk and factory produced meat. What is your take on that? Are we even producing the milk in the future as we are now? I guess as demand will take us in this direction... But yes, factory produced milk and meat in some countries mass produced is taking over. But there's also the fact that the consumers may be going against that trend and wanting the smaller type farms where there's a more personal relationship with the farmer, with the producer, with the consumer. Again, it's all down to majority of consumer wants, but I'm not sure it's going to go in the factory direction in the future. I think it'll be more of a personal approach coming up. So, Chris, in your mind, what challenges are the farmers facing then in terms of these challenges? I think the biggest one is costs. You know, how much is it going to cost to line their farms up to tell the consumers and have that relationship with the consumers and also produce the food and the direction that the supermarket is telling them to. Again, time is a factor, but I think the biggest one is cost, patience as well. And if they can endure all these challenges, whether they can actually stay in business or not. Lars, what's your take on that? I see the same I think that one of the biggest challenge that's the overwhelming amount of documentation they need to have. And for some farmers, that's just too much. And it's not the way they want to farm. So you can say all this documentation that's an opportunity for us with the product we have, but at the same time, a risk because it can be too much. But also, you know, we do see a huge political push towards a green transition and towards, you know, being more efficient towards the climate. And we did discuss that in a previous episode here on the BreedCast. Chris, what are you experiencing that farmers are doing towards this green transition? Yeah, you know, you've got to take it into context. I think if you're going down the green political line that in some of the countries, the green parties are hugely in the minority at the moment, but yet they're driving regulations and driving legislation and to which direction we want to go. And I think that's getting the farmers backs up. They're being pushed in the direction that they see. You know, they've been farming for 20 or 30 years and suddenly you're trying to tell them how to do things differently and it's just not sitting well with them. They know that they have to become greener. They know that they have to produce less emissions. But there's, you know, a time factor here, a cost factor. And the practical factor. Lars, what do you think? I see the same here. And in principle I see a huge willingness from the farmers actually to adapt to the consumer. I do see a change from the farmers, from being farmers actually, to being food producer and try to understand the need and wish from the consumers. So, it's just to find the tools for the farmers also to deliver what the consumers demand. Yeah, I think one of these tools might be the traceability that the consumers... you know, they want to know where the food is coming from. Like you mentioned, Chris, maybe it's more of a personal relation. What traceability, stuff like that. What do you think about that, Lars? I think that's a huge opportunity. And one of our responsibilities from our side, that is to bring in the right tools so you are able to do it. So it's easy and simple. You can say electronical eartags following the animal from birth to the slaughterhouse. It can be automatization in general. And sensor technology that can document about the animal both the size and whatever so it's not manual solutions where you need to write and we use the papers but actually the things are done automatically in the system and by different technologies when the meat or the milk is in the supermarket. All the information is there by smart solutions. Chris, what your thought on the traceability part? Yeah, I mean, first of all, the supermarkets have to identify the product as being from real farms, not just fake made up names that they use for their marketing. It has to be real farms that the people can identify and say; oh, look, I know where that guy is, but in the supermarkets, I guess consumers can come along with their mobile phone and use a QR code or something that can identify the product and the path right through to where the farm was. And more so I'm seeing practical things like open days on farms were... usually here and I think it's June where the consumers can go to the farm, talk to the farmer direct What is produces and how it’s produced. They can see themselves the welfare that the animals are in. And I think a personal relationship sometimes matters more than anything you can do in a supermarket with electronic devices. But again, it comes down to what I said earlier. If you took a 100 consumers and you asked them, do you really care where your food comes from or are you passionate about that? How many would say, yeah. What do you think? I'm not so sure. I think it would probably be in the minority at the minute. I think the first thing they see in the packaging is the price. Not where the product came from. So technological advancements in cattle breeding can help the farmers to get healthier or more efficient animals that results in higher quality food. One way of doing that is using the power of big data because of the extent of the database that we have in the Nordics, we have a large amount of control and quality through the data that we use. Lars, all this data how does it benefit the consumers? By the end of the day, all the data we collect into our national cattle databases benefit the consumers a lot because we are, based on all that information, able to detect the right breeding animals, breeding for the traits that the consumers ask for, so more healthy animals and also more efficient animals. So, you can say, by the end of the day, all of this data is the background for being able to reduce the use of antibiotics, giving more food safety and at the same time, some of the new technologies we are working at like feed efficiency, all this knowledge can reduce the carbon footprint at the same time. So the important thing for us here is that we have all this data available and also all this data available at the same place. So we by new technologies, machine learning, artificial intelligence are able to actually calculate the different connections, because one thing is if we breed for some kind of one advantage, like more efficient cows, but if those more efficient cows are more sick or need more antibiotic treatments, it's a disadvantage. So that's why we need the holistic approach to this. And that's why all of this data and all the data at the same time is very important for us in our processes here. So what you mention is some of the technologies on the back of all this data. Chris, what technology do you see out there when you, you know, do your writing and reporting? What technologies do you see that helps farmers in this transition? Well, I agree with Lars completely. The big advantage is having all the data available to know which direction to go. The buzzwords in media, agricultural media at the moment is sustainability. So anything that helps sustainability- it’s a hard word to say- is a good thing and for that you're talking about maybe smaller cows eating less, producing more milk from the same animal. Looking at the carbon footprint, locking carbon away and releasing carbon, all these different types of things need technology to first of all find them, report them and process them. So it is hugely important. Lars, from a breeding perspective, what are the technologies that are being used or that can help other than the things that you mention? You can see for us when we do the breeding, it's very important that we connect you can say phenotypes with genotypes, so we know what is actually affecting the phenotype. So, all this feed efficiency and health traits, which genes are the ones driving this? So full scale genomic testing of our animals is an important tool for us to make the connection between the genes and the phenotypes from making the right progresses. And that's an ambition we do have in VikingGenetics on home market animals really to have full scale genomic selection on all animals. One of the things that Chris is mentioning as well, is a smaller type of cow. What are your thoughts on that? We have within VikingGenetics both the opportunity of some crossbreeding but the Jersey as well. What do you think about that? I will say, as a baseline, we have an understanding that the smaller cows are more efficient than the bigger cows. You can say due to the energy used for maintenance. But with the CFIT camera solution, we have much better information about the single animal and the efficiency. And for that reason I can give a much better answer, but as a baseline, yes, I'm sure that the medium size, smaller animals are more efficient and that is the style and the animals we are breeding for. You mentioned crossbreeding as a solution to make more resilient animals. That's also something we bring into the pure breed. But by doing the crossbreeding, it may have an even bigger impact and a bigger influence. And that's a tool we of course will use. Chris, which of these technologies in the future do you think will have the largest impact? That's a good question. Again, it depends on the direction that farmers need to produce food. If in terms of pure technology, I think genomic testing is one of the biggest attributes a farmer can have. And I'm noticing more now when I go to dairy farms to write a story about them. That's one of the things that some more farmers are starting to do and starting to get excited about and talk about. And you know, five, ten years ago, would that have been a big thing? I don't think so. But in the future, it's going to be you know, it's not exactly cloning cows, but it is breeding to your advantage, in the future of exactly the animal you need to produce, the product that you need in the form that is going to sell to consumers and what they want. Yeah. And now you mentioned the consumer. What is the consumer aspect of this? Some would say it’s maybe too much. They have too much say in how farmers produce food. But I guess, you know, you need to produce to the demand that they're talking about. It is an important relationship from farmer to consumer via the process, via the supermarket. But at the end of the day, it has to be a fair process. It has to be one that is economically viable for the food chain. But sometimes you get the impression that these consumer groups are being driven by false information or by false claims from other bigger companies with multi billion budgets to spend on marketing. So you've just got to be careful, you know, which road that you go to in order to get the right track to produce food for the majority consumer. We have been talking about gene technology, especially genomic selection, and it has a huge role to play in the cows that we’ll breed for the future. Chris, in what ways can genetics help farmers adapt to these changes? Well, exactly what we've been talking about earlier. I mean, I'm not an expert, but the farmers know that they need to produce a cow adaptable to their farm, that can eat the grass that they produce, can stay healthy, can stay alert, can stay productive by the means that they have to feed the finances and to make a profit so that, you know, that's one of the biggest things. Lars, what's your take on that? I will say whenever we have a trait, where there is genetic variation and you're able to measure, we are also able to change by natural way and we do that and I think we are getting better and better listening to the consumers. But in VikingGenetics’ perspective, you can say, we are in a little bit of a dilemma that we have been discussing early also what are the consumers willing to pay because we are in general breeding for better and better quality- milk quality - with trying to seek new components like A2A2 and so on. But also with the meat. Beef on dairy is a huge part that we use more and more beef on dairy and that's a tool we can use, but also that it's not only volume but also quality. And we have different opportunities to improve that. Some can be done by natural way, but the next step is when and how are we allowed to use newer technologies like CRISPR? Tell us what CRISPR is. CRISPR that's a tool where you can say instead of the natural way of breeding, where you just select what you have. CRISPR is a tool where you start to play with the genes, where you neutralize some single genes and take them out of the equation. Or in principle, you also move genes from animal to animal. And that way you can introduce polledness, for example, in horned animals by using this technology. But, Chris, when you listen to that, what... Because, you know, you mentioned that it's a local relationship to the places where the food has been produced. Using technology like that is very futuristic. What's your take on that? How does that balance? Well, again, it's comes down to the needs, if the farmer needs it, if the industry needs it, but when you use, you know, terms like CRISPR can be quite scary for farmers or consumers to think, oh my goodness, you're you're tinkering with the genes. This is genetically modifying. That's not the direction we want to go, but it could be the direction you want to go. The way the climate is changing, the way production systems are changing. As Lars said, maybe we do need to eliminate some traits or eliminate the gene to influence the trait. Who knows? But it is being more and more talked about now. In fact, I read some stories last week about CRISPR. I knew nothing about until then, and now I know a little bit more. And just to say we are in the food supply chain. Some food is plant based, some is from animals. We are in the animal sector. But parallel to the plant from a Danish ethical council, it was mentioned that it's unethical not to use gene technology in the plant production. Not? Not to use, yes. It's because... Not ethical? Just to understand- that it's not ethical to not use it? Yes because for some traits or some single traits it might take ten generations to come to a certain goal. Here you can do it like this. And in a in society where we miss food then a quick fix might be a better solution than waiting ten, 15, 20 years doing it the natural way. Yeah. And I guess that's an important aspect because the part of the world where we're from and, you know, less is more or from less to better or... But there are parts in the world that actually don't have the food that we have. So, that's another aspect of it. For sure. And I know it's... In general when you ask consumers whether they will use food coming from genetically manipulated origin, then most people will say no. But when you start to talk about what it actually is, they might have another answer. And I think it's a huge part for the EU to discuss this. And who knows? Like you say, lack of food can quite often lead to new solutions. Yeah. Chris, what is your take on that? The balancing of these new technologies and societal and political pressure? Well you know, food is the biggest driver in humanity today because - or in populations around the world - if we don't have food, then we're in trouble. And it is going to come to those countries that at the moment they're a bit skeptical about this type of technology. I guarantee in ten years time they probably will be using it because the need for the food is there, the need for the traits, the need for everything that we have discussed is there. And although they might put up resistance now, you can see a change in the political situation around the world that they are starting to follow maybe the minority of voters or consumers in this direction, but they know that politically this is going to come. And if they want to safeguard their political job, this is the direction they need to go. If you're to give a summary here at the end, what are the most important things that farmers should remember in discussing cattle breeding and cattle farming to be ready for 2040? Chris, let's start with you. What are the two most important things in your mind? I think if it comes down to breeding, sustainability, as I said, is the biggest buzzword going on at the moment. When it comes down to breeding, is it possible, you know, can they use these genetics to breed exactly what they want in terms of what the consumer wants and in a timely fashion, in an economically viable fashion. It's got to be... There are so many regulations sweeping across Europe now, sweeping across the world that farmers need to adhere to in order to produce this food. So they've got their eyes on so many different balls in order to stay in business. The unfortunate thing is the regulations that European farmers, Western farmers might agree with or have to comply with. It's not going to be the same in Eastern countries, poorer countries, less developed countries who are going to be very far behind in terms of that stage that they are at to produce food for the consumer. But is something that's going to take off in countries and be very slow in other countries, but is going to be needed if we're going to feed a population of 9 billion by 2050. Lars, what are the two most important things from your side? I think it will be extremely important for the farmers to be agile and be ready to transform their production to the needs from the consumers. That's extremely important. And then, in general, a smart way of doing documentation, I think documentation will continue to be a huge part. We need to find the right way so they will not die in all this. And we need to be prepared to give them all the right tools. So all these changes, this need for new tools can be implemented as fast as the consumers need it. It can be CRISPR, it can be other tools. So we really need to be fast executors when it's needed. Thanks to everyone for joining the BreedCast today. We've had a look at the future and how today's trends are shaping what cattle farming might look like in 2040. To learn more about innovative breeding, please visit our website VikingGenetics.com. Thank you, Lars Nielsen and Chris McCullough for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us. Thanks to everybody out there listening. If you have an idea for a topic in the world of cattle breeding that we should focus on, then please visit VikingGenetics’ Facebook page or the BreedCast.com. My name is Hielke Wiersma. Please join me for the next BreedCast episode where we'll focus on the Nordic Total Merit Index, which can help you breed for health, benefit profits and improve your herd.