CIS Laboratory Celebrates 10 year Anniversary

It was in 2011 that CIS purchased Speir House, thanks to the innovative vision and leadership of Sue Cope – and the state-of-the-art laboratory first opened its doors for testing in August 2012. Owned by Holstein UK, the building is named after John Speir, the founder of milk recording in the UK. During the following months, a highly-reliable quality management system was built which allowed CIS to gain full accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. With hard work and guidance, Sue’s vision became reality and the CIS laboratory became recognised as one of the leading laboratories of its type in both Europe and the World.

CIS’ highly-developed quality system gives full confidence in each result and the process has been championed worldwide. CIS handles frequent requests from many European and international laboratories to visit Telford to see the system first-hand. Up-to-the-minute equipment provides uniform testing – the first of its kind in the UK. To guarantee full traceability, each milk sample is uniquely coded from the time it is collected on-farm through to the reporting of results.

Within a year of opening, testing volumes increased, systems were streamlined and within a few years, CIS had gained 50% of the UK’s milk recording market share. For compositional testing the system is fully automated, using the latest processes to ensure each sample is processed uniformly to the highest standard. Each instrument has the capability of processing 600 samples an hour which minimises the turnaround time. Milk holds a wealth of valuable information which a farm can use to make strategic decisions about how to manage each individual animal or the herd as a whole. CIS offers a full suite of health tests, reflecting the growing importance of health status.

In 2013, PregCheck was introduced. CIS was the first accredited laboratory in the world for the IDEXX PAGs test. This test allows for early detection of open cows which allows for increased production. With the introduction of BVDV testing on blood, milk and tissue samples, the lab gained Designated Laboratory Status for the BVD eradication schemes in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In 2018 a new PCR laboratory was opened at Speir House and UKAS accreditation was granted for BVDV PCR testing.

Currently, CIS processes over four million routine milk samples each year and over 150,000 health tests. The laboratory runs seven days a week over 12 hours a day, supported by 22 members of highly-trained staff.  Moving forward, new premises have been purchased and construction works started on a much larger laboratory facility to allow even further expansion. CIS will continue to research new innovative technologies to provide information and tools to aid with sustainability on farms. We will continue to drive Sue Cope’s visions for CIS forward.