Bifidobacterium, a genus commonly found in the microbiome of healthy infants, has been demonstrated to exert various beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal tract, contributing to overall health. Notably, these bacteria possess the ability to use complex glycoconjugates as nutrients, which holds importance for breast-fed infants, as human milk contains substantial quantities of these glycoconjugates. However, the underlying mechanisms of action of these beneficial properties remain largely unexplored. This study presents an alternative perspective on the nutrients in the diet that could potentially support the maintenance of a healthy Bifidobacterium population. We present evidence suggesting that the presence of milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), a component shared by all mammalian milk, significantly alters the metabolism of these bacteria. This alteration is reflected in the production of exopolysaccharides on the surface and secretome of the bacteria fed MFGM, whereas the absence of this component does not result in such changes. To substantiate this hypothesis, we employed proteomic and physicochemical methods, culminating in the evidence of the MFGM layer through electron microscopy.
{"title":"Evidence for the influence of the milk fat globule membrane on bifidobacteria metabolism and cell surface properties","authors":"Celeste Miller, Rafael Jiménez-Flores","doi":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0873","DOIUrl":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0873","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Bifidobacterium</em>, a genus commonly found in the microbiome of healthy infants, has been demonstrated to exert various beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal tract, contributing to overall health. Notably, these bacteria possess the ability to use complex glycoconjugates as nutrients, which holds importance for breast-fed infants, as human milk contains substantial quantities of these glycoconjugates. However, the underlying mechanisms of action of these beneficial properties remain largely unexplored. This study presents an alternative perspective on the nutrients in the diet that could potentially support the maintenance of a healthy <em>Bifidobacterium</em> population. We present evidence suggesting that the presence of milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), a component shared by all mammalian milk, significantly alters the metabolism of these bacteria. This alteration is reflected in the production of exopolysaccharides on the surface and secretome of the bacteria fed MFGM, whereas the absence of this component does not result in such changes. To substantiate this hypothesis, we employed proteomic and physicochemical methods, culminating in the evidence of the MFGM layer through electron microscopy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94061,"journal":{"name":"JDS communications","volume":"7 1","pages":"Pages 12-17"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145915541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K.F. Reed , J.M. Tricarico , S. HekmatiAthar , J.S. Waddell , D.A. Andreen , K.R. Briggs , A. Liu , N.D. Tomlinson , J. Adamchick , V.E. Cabrera , H. Hu , Y. Gong , G.M. Graef , M.R. Villalobos-Barquero , J.P. Oliver , D.V. Nydam , N. Ayache , L. McClintock
The Ruminant Farm Systems (RuFaS) model is an open-source, modular, whole-farm simulation platform designed to support interdisciplinary research, innovation, and decision making in sustainable dairy production. This review outlines RuFaS structure, functionality, current applications, and potential for further development. Through integration of biophysical modules for animal, manure, soil and crop, and feed storage systems, RuFaS enables comprehensive evaluation of management strategies, environmental interventions, and productivity outcomes in a whole-farm context. The RuFaS model facilitates hypothesis testing, multi-objective analysis, scenario evaluation, and identification of research gaps by simulating interactions and trade-offs across biological, environmental, and management domains. The model's current applications include its integration into the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Environmental Stewardship program for GHG accounting and its use in evaluating innovations in nutrition, breeding, and manure management technologies. Its modular architecture supports rapid prototyping, modeling at different scales, and uncertainty analysis, making it adaptable to diverse research questions and stakeholder needs. Finally, it highlights the critical role its open-source foundation has for promoting transparency, reproducibility, and collaborative development across disciplines. Its transparent development process, hosted on GitHub under a GPLv3 license, invites contributions from across disciplines and institutions. Scientists are encouraged to explore RuFaS as a tool for advancing their own research, contributing to model development, and engaging in a shared effort to improve the sustainability of dairy systems.
{"title":"The Ruminant Farm Systems (RuFaS) model is a platform to support future research and actions for sustainable dairy farming","authors":"K.F. Reed , J.M. Tricarico , S. HekmatiAthar , J.S. Waddell , D.A. Andreen , K.R. Briggs , A. Liu , N.D. Tomlinson , J. Adamchick , V.E. Cabrera , H. Hu , Y. Gong , G.M. Graef , M.R. Villalobos-Barquero , J.P. Oliver , D.V. Nydam , N. Ayache , L. McClintock","doi":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0861","DOIUrl":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0861","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Ruminant Farm Systems (RuFaS) model is an open-source, modular, whole-farm simulation platform designed to support interdisciplinary research, innovation, and decision making in sustainable dairy production. This review outlines RuFaS structure, functionality, current applications, and potential for further development. Through integration of biophysical modules for animal, manure, soil and crop, and feed storage systems, RuFaS enables comprehensive evaluation of management strategies, environmental interventions, and productivity outcomes in a whole-farm context. The RuFaS model facilitates hypothesis testing, multi-objective analysis, scenario evaluation, and identification of research gaps by simulating interactions and trade-offs across biological, environmental, and management domains. The model's current applications include its integration into the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Environmental Stewardship program for GHG accounting and its use in evaluating innovations in nutrition, breeding, and manure management technologies. Its modular architecture supports rapid prototyping, modeling at different scales, and uncertainty analysis, making it adaptable to diverse research questions and stakeholder needs. Finally, it highlights the critical role its open-source foundation has for promoting transparency, reproducibility, and collaborative development across disciplines. Its transparent development process, hosted on GitHub under a GPLv3 license, invites contributions from across disciplines and institutions. Scientists are encouraged to explore RuFaS as a tool for advancing their own research, contributing to model development, and engaging in a shared effort to improve the sustainability of dairy systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94061,"journal":{"name":"JDS communications","volume":"6 ","pages":"Pages S15-S22"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145765727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kathryn L. Proudfoot , Thomas Ede , Catherine L. Ryan , Heather W. Neave
The study of dairy cattle cognition has gained increasing attention over the past several decades, offering insights into the relationship between cognition and animal welfare. The objectives of this narrative review are to summarize a selection of studies exploring different cognitive processes in dairy cattle, discuss how these processes relate to common management practices and animal welfare, and identify knowledge gaps to guide future research. We begin with a brief overview of research into how dairy cattle perceive and sense the world around them, followed by a description of different types of learning and memory studied in dairy cattle, including nonassociative and associative learning, as well as short- and long-term memory. We then discuss how researchers have explored cognitive processes in dairy cows to understand their social lives, their ability to cope with challenges, and how they feel under different management conditions. Continued research into dairy cattle cognition is encouraged, including both foundational studies asking questions about the cognitive abilities of dairy cattle, as well as applied questions that can lead to improvements to their housing and management. We end by offering several avenues of future research into the cognition of dairy cattle, including a better understanding of competence and resilience, factors that influence cognition such as sleep and individual differences, as well as other under-investigated topics, such as problem-solving and metacognition.
{"title":"Cognition of dairy cattle: Implications for animal welfare and dairy science","authors":"Kathryn L. Proudfoot , Thomas Ede , Catherine L. Ryan , Heather W. Neave","doi":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0860","DOIUrl":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0860","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study of dairy cattle cognition has gained increasing attention over the past several decades, offering insights into the relationship between cognition and animal welfare. The objectives of this narrative review are to summarize a selection of studies exploring different cognitive processes in dairy cattle, discuss how these processes relate to common management practices and animal welfare, and identify knowledge gaps to guide future research. We begin with a brief overview of research into how dairy cattle perceive and sense the world around them, followed by a description of different types of learning and memory studied in dairy cattle, including nonassociative and associative learning, as well as short- and long-term memory. We then discuss how researchers have explored cognitive processes in dairy cows to understand their social lives, their ability to cope with challenges, and how they feel under different management conditions. Continued research into dairy cattle cognition is encouraged, including both foundational studies asking questions about the cognitive abilities of dairy cattle, as well as applied questions that can lead to improvements to their housing and management. We end by offering several avenues of future research into the cognition of dairy cattle, including a better understanding of competence and resilience, factors that influence cognition such as sleep and individual differences, as well as other under-investigated topics, such as problem-solving and metacognition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94061,"journal":{"name":"JDS communications","volume":"6 ","pages":"Pages S37-S41"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145765730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Miel Hostens , Sébastien Franceschini , Meike van Leerdam , Haiyu Yang , Sabina Pokharel , Enhong Liu , Puchun Niu , Hanlu Zhang , Saba Noor , Kristof Hermans , Matthieu Salamone , Sumit Sharma
The dairy sector should overcome challenges in productivity, sustainability, and data management by adopting intelligent, scalable, and privacy-preserving technological solutions. Adopting data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is essential to ensure efficient operations and informed decision making and to keep a competitive market advantage. This paper proposes an integrated, multimodal AI framework to support data-intensive dairy farm operations by leveraging big data principles and advancing them through AI technologies. The proposed architecture incorporates edge computing, autonomous AI agents, and federated learning to enable real-time, privacy-preserving analytics at the farm level and promote knowledge sharing and refinement through research farms and cloud collaboration. Farms collect heterogeneous data, which can be transformed into embeddings for both local inference and cloud analysis. These embeddings form the input of AI agents that support health monitoring, risk prediction, operational optimization, and decision making. Privacy is preserved by sharing only model weights or anonymized data externally. The edge layer handles time-sensitive tasks and communicates with a centralized enterprise cloud hosting global models and distributing updates. A research and development cloud linked to research farms ensures model testing and validation. The entire system is orchestrated by autonomous AI agents that manage data, choose models, and interact with stakeholders, and human oversight ensures safe decisions, as illustrated in the practical use case of mastitis management. This architecture could support data integrity, scalability, and real-time personalization, along with opening up space for partnerships between farms, research institutions, and regulatory bodies to promote secure, cross-sector innovation.
{"title":"The future of big data and artificial intelligence on dairy farms: A proposed dairy data ecosystem","authors":"Miel Hostens , Sébastien Franceschini , Meike van Leerdam , Haiyu Yang , Sabina Pokharel , Enhong Liu , Puchun Niu , Hanlu Zhang , Saba Noor , Kristof Hermans , Matthieu Salamone , Sumit Sharma","doi":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0843","DOIUrl":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0843","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The dairy sector should overcome challenges in productivity, sustainability, and data management by adopting intelligent, scalable, and privacy-preserving technological solutions. Adopting data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is essential to ensure efficient operations and informed decision making and to keep a competitive market advantage. This paper proposes an integrated, multimodal AI framework to support data-intensive dairy farm operations by leveraging big data principles and advancing them through AI technologies. The proposed architecture incorporates edge computing, autonomous AI agents, and federated learning to enable real-time, privacy-preserving analytics at the farm level and promote knowledge sharing and refinement through research farms and cloud collaboration. Farms collect heterogeneous data, which can be transformed into embeddings for both local inference and cloud analysis. These embeddings form the input of AI agents that support health monitoring, risk prediction, operational optimization, and decision making. Privacy is preserved by sharing only model weights or anonymized data externally. The edge layer handles time-sensitive tasks and communicates with a centralized enterprise cloud hosting global models and distributing updates. A research and development cloud linked to research farms ensures model testing and validation. The entire system is orchestrated by autonomous AI agents that manage data, choose models, and interact with stakeholders, and human oversight ensures safe decisions, as illustrated in the practical use case of mastitis management. This architecture could support data integrity, scalability, and real-time personalization, along with opening up space for partnerships between farms, research institutions, and regulatory bodies to promote secure, cross-sector innovation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94061,"journal":{"name":"JDS communications","volume":"6 ","pages":"Pages S9-S14"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145765726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Although antimicrobial usage is highly restricted in dairy cows, concerns about development and dissemination of resistant bacteria have led to a reexamination of mastitis therapies. In the past, almost all cases of clinical mastitis were treated symptomatically using intramammary antibiotics, and in many regions, most cows received intramammary antibiotic treatments at dry-off. On modern dairy farms, changes in the distribution of etiological agents have reduced the need to give antimicrobials for all mastitis cases. Culture-guided selective treatment protocols for nonsevere clinical mastitis have been adopted on many farms and align with principles of antimicrobial stewardship. Although some antimicrobial therapy is needed to maintain udder health, antimicrobial therapy is not effective or not necessary for resolution of many cases of mastitis. As the use of antimicrobials has declined, many alternative treatments have been explored, but few non-antimicrobial treatments have documented efficacy. The purpose of this paper is to review the concepts of antimicrobial stewardship on dairy farms from the US perspective, with an emphasis on current and future management strategies for udder health.
{"title":"The future of udder health: Antimicrobial stewardship and alternative therapy of bovine mastitis","authors":"Pamela L. Ruegg","doi":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0839","DOIUrl":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0839","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although antimicrobial usage is highly restricted in dairy cows, concerns about development and dissemination of resistant bacteria have led to a reexamination of mastitis therapies. In the past, almost all cases of clinical mastitis were treated symptomatically using intramammary antibiotics, and in many regions, most cows received intramammary antibiotic treatments at dry-off. On modern dairy farms, changes in the distribution of etiological agents have reduced the need to give antimicrobials for all mastitis cases. Culture-guided selective treatment protocols for nonsevere clinical mastitis have been adopted on many farms and align with principles of antimicrobial stewardship. Although some antimicrobial therapy is needed to maintain udder health, antimicrobial therapy is not effective or not necessary for resolution of many cases of mastitis. As the use of antimicrobials has declined, many alternative treatments have been explored, but few non-antimicrobial treatments have documented efficacy. The purpose of this paper is to review the concepts of antimicrobial stewardship on dairy farms from the US perspective, with an emphasis on current and future management strategies for udder health.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94061,"journal":{"name":"JDS communications","volume":"6 ","pages":"Pages S31-S36"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145765729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in reproductive management in dairy cattle have typically been made through the application of new technology. The past 25 yr have been a period of rapid improvement in dairy reproduction through the implementation of new technology that was unknown a short time ago. The next 25 yr will likely be similar with the refinement of existing technology and development of new technology to address the current challenges to dairy reproduction. Many of these new developments will address the need for greater on-farm automation necessitated by the consolidation of farms (more cows per farm) in the face of shortages in large animal veterinary and agricultural labor. Genomics will continue to play an important role in improving fertility on farm. There is the possibility that postpartum uterine health could benefit from advanced technologies that are emerging as effective treatments for tissue damage caused by disease. The reprogramming of somatic cells into gametes (in vitro gametogenesis) or embryos (blastoids) may entirely change the methods used to propagate elite genetics from female animals. Despite important advances in new technology, there are also important questions and researchable topics that need to be addressed so that the field of dairy reproduction can advance. These include automating or simplifying the current method of artificial insemination, addressing the short lifespan of sperm in the reproductive tract, and solving fertilization failure and embryonic loss following insemination. Embryo technologies await new discoveries to improve embryo yield from donor animals, increase the development of embryos in culture, reduce the damage caused by freezing embryos, and effectively evaluate embryo quality before transfer. The collective result of new knowledge and new technology will drive further improvements in genetics, fertility, and the efficiency of reproduction in high-producing dairy cattle.
{"title":"The intersection of biology and advanced technologies defines the future of dairy reproductive management","authors":"M.C. Lucy","doi":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0840","DOIUrl":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0840","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Advances in reproductive management in dairy cattle have typically been made through the application of new technology. The past 25 yr have been a period of rapid improvement in dairy reproduction through the implementation of new technology that was unknown a short time ago. The next 25 yr will likely be similar with the refinement of existing technology and development of new technology to address the current challenges to dairy reproduction. Many of these new developments will address the need for greater on-farm automation necessitated by the consolidation of farms (more cows per farm) in the face of shortages in large animal veterinary and agricultural labor. Genomics will continue to play an important role in improving fertility on farm. There is the possibility that postpartum uterine health could benefit from advanced technologies that are emerging as effective treatments for tissue damage caused by disease. The reprogramming of somatic cells into gametes (in vitro gametogenesis) or embryos (blastoids) may entirely change the methods used to propagate elite genetics from female animals. Despite important advances in new technology, there are also important questions and researchable topics that need to be addressed so that the field of dairy reproduction can advance. These include automating or simplifying the current method of artificial insemination, addressing the short lifespan of sperm in the reproductive tract, and solving fertilization failure and embryonic loss following insemination. Embryo technologies await new discoveries to improve embryo yield from donor animals, increase the development of embryos in culture, reduce the damage caused by freezing embryos, and effectively evaluate embryo quality before transfer. The collective result of new knowledge and new technology will drive further improvements in genetics, fertility, and the efficiency of reproduction in high-producing dairy cattle.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94061,"journal":{"name":"JDS communications","volume":"6 ","pages":"Pages S47-S53"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145765799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cow milk is often considered one of the most versatile foods on the planet, with an ability to transform into multiple formats, containing thousands of bioactive compounds that serve a plethora of different purposes in the body, some of which are known, and many of which are still to be discovered. In the past 25 years, dairy has continued to be recognized as a highly nutrient-dense commodity. Advancements in the next 25 years will push culture and consumers toward enhanced demands for precision, personalization, and transparency from the products they purchase to the services they use, especially regarding food, health, and wellness. This will begin the shift for dairy and milk from a nutrient-dense commodity to an even higher value food. Dairy foods will need to align with new concepts in the future of retail and commerce that allow consumers to gain tailored solutions based on a set of criteria and personal preferences they set, with and through their personal technology. Dairy science will play a critical role in enabling this shift—encompassing fields from nutrition science and product development to genetics, marketing, and commercialization—by leveraging the versatility of cow milk and demonstrating dairy food's health and wellness benefits from the molecular level to the whole dairy matrix.
{"title":"The future of milk in 2050: Dairy in the age of personalization","authors":"Eve Pollet","doi":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0859","DOIUrl":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0859","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cow milk is often considered one of the most versatile foods on the planet, with an ability to transform into multiple formats, containing thousands of bioactive compounds that serve a plethora of different purposes in the body, some of which are known, and many of which are still to be discovered. In the past 25 years, dairy has continued to be recognized as a highly nutrient-dense commodity. Advancements in the next 25 years will push culture and consumers toward enhanced demands for precision, personalization, and transparency from the products they purchase to the services they use, especially regarding food, health, and wellness. This will begin the shift for dairy and milk from a nutrient-dense commodity to an even higher value food. Dairy foods will need to align with new concepts in the future of retail and commerce that allow consumers to gain tailored solutions based on a set of criteria and personal preferences they set, with and through their personal technology. Dairy science will play a critical role in enabling this shift—encompassing fields from nutrition science and product development to genetics, marketing, and commercialization—by leveraging the versatility of cow milk and demonstrating dairy food's health and wellness benefits from the molecular level to the whole dairy matrix.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94061,"journal":{"name":"JDS communications","volume":"6 ","pages":"Pages S3-S8"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145765725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Luiz F. Brito, Allan P. Schinckel, Hinayah Rojas de Oliveira
The dairy industry has experienced unprecedented genetic progress, more than doubling milk yield over recent decades, but this has often resulted in reduced fertility, longevity, and robustness. This review addresses the question “Who will be the dairy cows of the future?” by highlighting the integration of genomics, phenomics, and advanced breeding strategies. From our perspective, future cows are expected to be healthier, more resilient, and longer-lived, with improved fertility, feed efficiency, and reduced methane emissions. Precision technologies, wearable sensors, and automated systems are providing novel phenotypes and driving selection for adaptability, welfare, and efficiency. Genomic selection, reproductive and other biological technologies, and beef-on-dairy crossbreeding are reshaping dairy breeding programs, while collaborations are critical for advancing multiple-trait evaluations and safeguarding genetic diversity. Despite Holstein breed dominance, maintaining across- and within-breed variation is essential for long-term sustainability. Ultimately, as a consequence of the wide adoption of precision technologies, more complex breeding goals, and effective breeding strategies, the dairy cow of the future will balance productive efficiency with resilience, welfare, and environmental efficiency, ensuring global sustainability of dairy production.
{"title":"Genomics and phenomics: Who will be the dairy cows of the future?","authors":"Luiz F. Brito, Allan P. Schinckel, Hinayah Rojas de Oliveira","doi":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0872","DOIUrl":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0872","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The dairy industry has experienced unprecedented genetic progress, more than doubling milk yield over recent decades, but this has often resulted in reduced fertility, longevity, and robustness. This review addresses the question “Who will be the dairy cows of the future?” by highlighting the integration of genomics, phenomics, and advanced breeding strategies. From our perspective, future cows are expected to be healthier, more resilient, and longer-lived, with improved fertility, feed efficiency, and reduced methane emissions. Precision technologies, wearable sensors, and automated systems are providing novel phenotypes and driving selection for adaptability, welfare, and efficiency. Genomic selection, reproductive and other biological technologies, and beef-on-dairy crossbreeding are reshaping dairy breeding programs, while collaborations are critical for advancing multiple-trait evaluations and safeguarding genetic diversity. Despite Holstein breed dominance, maintaining across- and within-breed variation is essential for long-term sustainability. Ultimately, as a consequence of the wide adoption of precision technologies, more complex breeding goals, and effective breeding strategies, the dairy cow of the future will balance productive efficiency with resilience, welfare, and environmental efficiency, ensuring global sustainability of dairy production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94061,"journal":{"name":"JDS communications","volume":"6 ","pages":"Pages S23-S30"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145765728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The perinatal period, described herein as the time spanning the final 2 mo of gestation through 2 mo postnatal, is a critical window of developmental plasticity for many organs in placental mammals, including the mammary gland (MG). In dairy cattle, early-life MG development involves foundational morphogenic events that are highly sensitive to environmental and nutritional factors. Emerging evidence challenges the long-standing belief that substantial MG development begins after weaning and lasts until puberty, showing instead that preweaning mammary parenchymal (mPAR) growth is allometric and its degree of development can influence future lactational capacity. Overall BW typically doubles from birth to 60 d, whereas both whole udder weight and the mammary fat pad increase by ∼2.2 to 3 times over the same period. In contrast, the mPAR exhibits pronounced allometric growth, expanding 15 to 35 times during this time. Early-life management strategies, such as heat abatement to maintain thermal homeostasis and enhanced nutrition through higher milk intake supporting greater average daily gain, further promote mPAR development and can positively influence future lactation performance of dairy cows. These findings underscore the importance of integrating developmental biology into heifer-rearing strategies and emphasize the need for precise environmental and nutritional management during this critical window to support lifelong mammary function and optimize herd performance.
{"title":"Making future udders: Mammary development and perinatal programming of dairy cattle","authors":"Jimena Laporta, Maverick C. Guenther","doi":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0828","DOIUrl":"10.3168/jdsc.2025-0828","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The perinatal period, described herein as the time spanning the final 2 mo of gestation through 2 mo postnatal, is a critical window of developmental plasticity for many organs in placental mammals, including the mammary gland (MG). In dairy cattle, early-life MG development involves foundational morphogenic events that are highly sensitive to environmental and nutritional factors. Emerging evidence challenges the long-standing belief that substantial MG development begins after weaning and lasts until puberty, showing instead that preweaning mammary parenchymal (mPAR) growth is allometric and its degree of development can influence future lactational capacity. Overall BW typically doubles from birth to 60 d, whereas both whole udder weight and the mammary fat pad increase by ∼2.2 to 3 times over the same period. In contrast, the mPAR exhibits pronounced allometric growth, expanding 15 to 35 times during this time. Early-life management strategies, such as heat abatement to maintain thermal homeostasis and enhanced nutrition through higher milk intake supporting greater average daily gain, further promote mPAR development and can positively influence future lactation performance of dairy cows. These findings underscore the importance of integrating developmental biology into heifer-rearing strategies and emphasize the need for precise environmental and nutritional management during this critical window to support lifelong mammary function and optimize herd performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":94061,"journal":{"name":"JDS communications","volume":"6 ","pages":"Pages S42-S46"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145765731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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