Within the main dairy in the furthest shed from the parlour, there is capacity to house 40 cows on trial. The trials in this area are mainly feed trials, looking at diets that can improve dairy cow feed efficiencies and improve health and productivity. The cows are trained to use RIC bins, where individual diets can be allocated to cows and monitored. The cows wear a device that only allows them to eat out of their allocated feed bin(s), it usually takes a couple of days to train a cow to access her bin.
Many of the trials in this area are conducted under ASPA and Home Office licences, the cows are under the care of a team of specialised staff including a named vet and named animal care and welfare officers. The data and outcomes of the trials have allowed Harper Adams to be at the forefront of ruminant research and improving health and welfare for cattle and promoting sustainable farming. Once a trial has finished and the cow has been checked by the vet they can re-join the main herd.
Over the summer of 2023, green feed efficient monitoring bins were installed in the area to replace the out of parlour feeders. This will allow the ability to monitor accurate methane outputs in dairy cows in addition to conducting feed trials.
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