A database system was developed to handle the enormous amount of data generated as part of the pro-Q project which aims at reducing antibiotic mastitis treatments and optimizing udder health in dairy cows.
The database combines data on holdings and management, cows, and udder quarters. Farm survey data, treatment records, data from breeders’ associations as well as dairy laboratory data can be fed into the database; additional project-specific data can easily be integrated. Other projects conducted in the fields of dairy cattle health and dairy cattle breeding have been integrated.
In the course of these new projects, additional farms have been integrated into the pro-Q on-farm research network. The pro-Q network now consists of more than 400 dairy farms in Switzerland and 36 holdings in adjacent German regions. To date the network has been utilized for more than twenty major and minor projects involving dairy cattle.
The network is of major benefit to acquiring participant farms for additional research projects as we are already familiar with farm managers interested in dairy research and know them as reliable partners who are familiar with how research work is conducted. Moreover, evaluations of existing data can be used to pre-select farms as potential research subjects as well as to conduct preliminary assessments for the purposes of potential new research questions.
