A.I. & BREEDING

We ask a lot of today’s dairy cow: She should milk well, produce high concentrations of milk components, remain healthy, breed back quickly and produce a live calf every 12 to 13 months.

Since the beginning of the genomic era, the De-Su prefix has dominated high-ranking Holstein lists, leaving a lasting impact on the breed with bulls like Observer, Bookem and Balisto, just to name a few.

On Dec. 10 in Guelph, Ontario, researchers from around the world presented their recent findings and gave research updates for the Efficient Dairy Genome Project (EDGP).

Think about the healthiest cows in your herd. What defines them as your healthiest? Is it their older age? Is it the fact they’ve never had mastitis? Or are they the ones that leave the fresh pen quickly after calving because they don’t have the lingering effects that come with milk fever, metritis, a retained placenta, ketosis or a displaced abomasum?

The science of monitoring milk yield and deviations from the expected lactation curve dates back more than half a century – when Dairy Herd Improvement testing began.

Across the dairy industry, every successful, profitable producer has a strong interest in reproductive efficiency. However, reproductive goals, protocols and procedures are different on every farm and are most often based on tradition, cost, labour availability and reproductive performance.