A.I. & BREEDING

Concerns associated with inbreeding have recently received more airtime than usual due to genomics. Read on to have your questions answered about this popular topic.

Editor’s note: This article is the first in a two-part series about how to monitor and, if necessary, change a herd’s reproductive management. Click here to view the second part of this series.

As the dairy industry continues to consolidate into fewer but larger farms, the demands for effective management and leadership skills have increased.

Genomics – they’re here to stay. This tool to accelerate genetic improvement has reinstated an intrigue for genetics and has become a very popular topic. But why is genomics such a big deal? Because it really works.

Technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace – and technology in the dairy industry is no exception. Some is considered “disruptive” technology, defined by Clayton Christensen of Harvard University as a process or product that takes root in simple applications at the bottom of the market and then relentlessly moves “up market,” eventually displacing established competitors.

Dairy producers continue to face increasing feed costs, which mandate caution when deciding how money is to be spent.

Could reproductive performance be holding your dairy back? The primary reason for poor reproduction is the inability to determine which dairy cows are in heat and which cows are ready to be bred.