The Next Frontier in Dairy
Dairy's oldest problem arrives on a date you already know.
Every fresh cow spends the weeks after calving short of energy. It is the biology of making milk, so it is the same on a British farm as on any other. Film 1 shows how far it reaches, why it never comes as a surprise, and the order in which she spends the energy she has.
Recorded on working US dairies, 2014–2017. Captions cover the narration and the founder on camera.
The scale of it
Britain first. Then Europe, then the world.
The same weeks after calving, for every one of these cows, every year.
Great Britain
1.5+million
cows in the GB milking herd
1,570,000 cows in the GB milking herd (1 July 2026) → 1.5+ million
AHDB 2026 · UK
European Union
19+million
dairy cows milked in the EU-27
19,221,660 dairy cattle milked in the EU-27 in 2024 → 19+ million
FAOSTAT 2024 · FAO, Rome
The world
290+million
dairy cows milked worldwide
294,577,237 dairy cattle milked worldwide in 2024 (FAO estimate) → 290+ million
FAOSTAT 2024 · FAO, Rome
Predictable, every year
None of it comes as a surprise.
Every farm
The same on every farm
It is the biology of making milk, so every herd meets it, whatever the system.
On the calendar
Dated months ahead
Her calving date is known from the day she is served.
Known science
Taught for decades
It is standard teaching in veterinary schools and agricultural universities.
The window
Three weeks either side
The transition runs from three weeks before calving to three weeks after. This work is about the three weeks after.
Drackley 1999 · USA
The order she works in
Milk comes second. Getting back in calf comes last.
After calving, the energy she has is spent in turn. What she cannot eat, she takes from her own body condition.
More energy in, earlier: support for the recovery every fresh cow has to make.
Film 1 · 2:00
- Maintenance and recoveryHer own body comes first.
- MilkThen the lactation she has just begun.
- GrowthIf she is still young.
- Body conditionRebuilding the reserves she drew on.
- Back in calfLast in the queue.
Amaral-Phillips 2010 · USA · Oregon State University, ANS 312 · USA (undated)
Around the cow
Ration, genetics, housing and recording have all moved on.
- Ration and nutrition
- Genetics and breeding
- Housing and cow comfort
- Collars, boluses, parlour meters and herd software
Each one works around her, and the recording tools show what she does.
On the cow · the next frontier
A wearable neurostimulation device, worn by the cow herself.
Fitted after calving and worn for about three weeks, it supports what she does: more trips to the feed barrier, and more time there.
The collars, boluses and parlour meters you already run are what show the change.
Other wearables measure what cows do. DMI Impact changes what cows do.
Whose farms
More than a decade on six US dairies. The next chapter is British.
Invented and developed by the late Dr David Barcik, with Dr David Paskewitz (R&D), Dr Kerry McGehee (Veterinarian), Jeremy Setters (Herd Manager) and Johnny Legg (Dairy Owner, Turnpike Dairy). Brought to the UK and EU by R.T. Barcik, Founder.
The films were recorded on those farms between 2014 and 2017. The next series will be filmed on UK farms, with UK vets and herd managers, in their own words.
No British herd has run one yet. On trial, each test cow wears a bright green sleeve, on purpose, so the first UK herds will see what she does before their records show it.
10+
years of development
6
US commercial dairies, conventional and organic
152
sources in our research library, read, tiered and refreshed quarterly
Next · Film 2 · The Biology
What happens inside her in those three weeks, and what she shows before any bill arrives.
The Biology →