A.I. & BREEDING

Historically, dairy cattle breeders had limited tools to work with. Genetic selection was based only on what could be seen. Decisions were handicapped to visible and subjective conformation traits.

Eliminating horns has long been part of basic herd management, but the economic value, practicality and acceptability of traditional horn removal practices is in question. A recent analysis compares the cost of dehorning with breeding for naturally hornless cattle.

Nutrition is one element of dairy management that can have a profound effect on the cow’s ability to conceive. Many key components of the ration – like energy levels – directly impact the dairy cow’s ability to become pregnant.

At this year’s American Dairy Science Association annual meeting held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in June, several invited speakers presented ideas about how they saw the dairy industry in 50 years.

Over the past decade, reproductive tools used to get cows pregnant have evolved tremendously. Automated activity monitoring technology has developed to deliver accurate detection of heats.

The simple solution to boosting dairy cattle conception rates (CR) is to improve reproductive management and cow environment, as these two general categories account for 96 percent of CR variation.