Dairy farmers were unlikely to run herds of hundreds of transgenic cows, as small numbers would supply most of the genetically modified material required by pharmaceutical companies, AgResearch said this week. At a media day at its Ruakura campus, near Hamilton, AgResearch manager of applied biotechnology Jimmy Suttie said its initial focus was the production of transgenic proteins for health supplements or to treat sick people, but it was keeping future options open. Herds of 40 or 50 cows could supply enough protein for those markets and farms were likely to also need some form of milk processing capacity so the only transgenic product leaving a farm would be milk powder or something similar.