This is a great addition to the unfortunately too limited category of articles about how big data / analysis changed actual decision-making.
That said, the definition of big data used by this article doesn't strike me as what I would think of as big data. Based on what it says, the dairy industry was changed by analysis and data collection but nothing that couldn't be stored on your typical phone. The article hints at big data (via greater genetic analysis) transforming the dairy industry in the future, but the massive changes in cow DNA so far are seemingly due to "small" data.
This confusion of big data with just solid analysis and decision-making happens a lot, but does a good job of highlighting how much progress there is to be made in using data to drive decisions (independent of how much data we use).
You've written what I was planning on posting. This is classic data aggregation and analysis. while Big Data is a trendy term, I see and perceive nothing in it that qualifies as even a particularly large set, much less what most see as Big Data.
That said, the definition of big data used by this article doesn't strike me as what I would think of as big data. Based on what it says, the dairy industry was changed by analysis and data collection but nothing that couldn't be stored on your typical phone. The article hints at big data (via greater genetic analysis) transforming the dairy industry in the future, but the massive changes in cow DNA so far are seemingly due to "small" data.
This confusion of big data with just solid analysis and decision-making happens a lot, but does a good job of highlighting how much progress there is to be made in using data to drive decisions (independent of how much data we use).