Who we are - a brief history
TasHerd was formed as a private company after de-regulation of the dairy industry in 2000 and is totally Tasmanian owned. Two of the current staff were also originally employed by the TDIA and have almost 70 years combined experience in dairy herd improvement.
What we do
TasHerd’s focus is primarily on Dairy Herd Recording and we operate a modern milk testing laboratory at our Hadspen premises.
Herd Recording involves several steps:
1. Farmers send us individual cow milk samples (approx once a month).
2. TasHerd measures the sample volume and analyses the milk for fat, protein, and somatic cells. SNF and lactose testing is also available.
3. The test result data from the laboratory is matched to the individual cows and a series of reports are produced for the farmer.
To get the maximum benefit from herd recording requires getting accurate information from the farmer. The single most important part of the process is that farmers accurately identify their cows and the milk samples.
TasHerd has developed software that makes use of the National Livestock Identification Scheme (NLIS) electronic ear tags. On herd test day, as each cow is milked her ear tag is read electronically and a barcoded sticker is printed and attached to her sample flask. When the samples arrive at our laboratory the barcode is scanned which matches the sample with the correct animal.
Information required to extract the most value from herd recording:
1. Cow breeding, ie breed, date of birth, sire & dam - provided when the cow enters the milking herd.
2. Calving date – provided when the cow commences a new lactation.
3. Dry off date – provided when the cow has completed her lactation.
At each herd test we require the date of the test, the time that milking commenced on the day of the test and at the previous milking and whether the test was done at the morning or afternoon milking.
In the early 1980's, the Tasmanian Herd Improvement Organisation (THIO) developed a method of testing where milk samples are taken from only one milking each month (rather than the traditional two milkings). For this system to work accurately, tests must alternate between AM and PM milkings, ie samples taken at the morning milking one month and then taken at the afternoon milking the next month and so on.
Trials done over several years in conjunction with the Tasmanian Department of Agriculture proved the accuracy of this method to be comparable with the traditional two samplings per month. Independent research carried out in Victoria reached similar conclusions. This testing regime is now widely used throughout Australia and is colloquially known as Tassie Test.