Harper Adams University Postgraduate Prospectus

Dr Mark Rutter, Dairy Unit. harper.ac.uk/markrutter The university’s £2.3 million dairy unit, with modern, high-welfare accommodation for 400 cows, provides an excellent base for dairy cow research alongside its commercial activities. A trial area is available for up to 60 individually-fed cows from the main herd. The cows each wear a neck transponder so that they can access an individual feed unit. The amount of feed eaten can then be automatically weighed and recorded, so that different diets can be compared with minimum disturbance to the cows. Metabolism facilities are also available to conduct nutritional balance studies, for example, on minerals or nitrogen. 31