August 2009

Top 10 Tips for Improving Reproduction and Profitability

Curtis Harms, DVM Regional Sales Manager/Field Technical Specialist

Reproduction is one of the driving forces in the success of a dairy. Profitability is maximized when cows get pregnant at the optimum time after calving, and at the lowest cost possible. Excellent reproductive protocols allow herds to maintain the most milk per cow per day by keeping the distribution of days in milk low. Poor reproductive efficiency causes cows to spend a disproportionate amount of their lactation at a lower level of milk production. (1)

With that in mind, here are 10 management issues that must be monitored and controlled in order to maintain reproductive efficiency.

1. Compliance is crucial to a successful program. Missed shots because of cows in wrong pens, poor lock-ups, poor shot administration, incorrect calibration of syringes, and mis-read tags all add up to the failure of a program. Being able to handle cows easily, without disruption in a pen is critical. If it is not easy to identify and handle cows, this will lead to compliance failure. Proper monitors and protocols need to be understood for a successful program. In a pre-synch/ov-synch program, each cow receives five shots. Failure to administer any one of these shots will reduce the conception rates and reduce the benefits of doing the program..

2. Weekly pregnancy checks and starting cows on the program weekly allow you to identify open cows more quickly and get cows re-bred sooner. With any ov-synch program we are trying to increase the proportion of cows in the right window of the cycle (diestrus 6-12 day) so that they ovulate with the GnRH shots during the program and create a high level of progesterone during the cycle. If you pregnancy check weekly and ultrasound cows at 28-34 days carry calf (DCC), all cows should be in the right window to re-synch. If you would like to pregnancy check later 35-41 DCC you can give GnRH 1 week ahead of pregnancy check to maintain the right window.

3. Accurate Heat Detection (cherry picking) during the pre-synch program and return to heat can save drug and labor costs in a program if one can achieve high enough conception rates( >40-50%) and pregnancy rates (>20%) compared to a 100% TAI program. Facilities and overcrowding can also make it hard to identify cows in heat causing a negative impact on heat detection. High-producing cows tend to show fewer signs of heat, but are still fertile. It is a must to utilize ov-synch programs to get semen into cows on a timely manner and avoid cows being missed.

4. Monitor: 21 day pregnancy rate (PR) is a great way to see how fast you are getting cows pregnant in the herd. This number is determined by your heat detection rate and your conception rate in a 21 day period for all eligible cows. Herds should strive to maintain:

o >20% Pregnancy rate o >45% first service conception rate o Days open <100days o Calving interval of 12-13.5months o Days to first service <80 days o Heat Detection rates >68% o Service/conception <1.8

A good rule of thumb on the number of pregnant cows needed per month is to take the average number of milking cows in herd x 8%. (350 milk cows x 8% = 28

pregnant cow each month or 7 cows per week.) It's an easy number to track and gives you an idea of when to intervene if you are not hitting the goal number.

5. Heifers: Look at the distribution of age at calving to see how timely we are getting heifers bred vs. the average age. This is a huge opportunity for savings as we are losing $100-$150 per animal that calves past 24 months of age in both feed cost and productive life. This is a huge opportunity to check out.

6. Tools: Cidr/Ov-synch program is an excellent tool to utilize on problem cows that fail to get pregnant by 120-150 days in milk and on cows that you are going to ov-synch but are not in diestrus. Cidr will help improve conception rates on these cows. These are great tools you can utilize strategically to save on cost and improve conception on problem cows in your herd.

7. Programs: There are great programs that work very well if implemented and managed correctly. An example would be 11d Pre-synch with 56hr Ov-synch.

I like the 11 day pre-synch program with accurate heat detection (cherry picking) followed by a 56hr ov-synch program. I prefer to utilize a 28-35 DCC ultrasound preg check and re-synch open cows with a 56hr ov-synch with the opportunity to utilize cidr + 56hr ov-synch on problem cows. Accurate heat detection is key to the success of this program in cost savings.

8. Problem solving: If you want to monitor or identify heat detection accuracy or synch efficiency of your shot program or cyclicity of your cows, blood progesterone testing is a great tool to utilize. Cows in heat will have a low level of progesterone; 2 weeks later they should have a high level of progesterone. By taking a two blood sample you can evaluate which cows are in heat and which cows are cycling. The goal of heat detection accuracy should be >90% cows bred are truly in heat, or 2 out of every 20 cows inseminated are not in heat. If you want to monitor shot compliance you can expect a synchronization rate of 80-90%.

9. Events and Somatic Cell Counts have a profound impact on fertility. There are numerous trials looking at SCC, metritis and retained placenta and their effects on conception rates. Benefits of a good transition program and a good milk quality program will have profound affects on reproduction. Dry matter intake and immunity are critical during this period.

10. Utilize Diamond V Nutritional Products including our Original line of Yeast Culture (Original YC, XP, and XPC) to maximize dry matter intake in transition and future reproductive efficiency. Both Diamond V Yeast Culture and DiaMune SE (Diamond V Yeast Culture plus organic selenium) are great products to use throughout lactation, but are especially important in transition period to get cows started right and ready to be bred

successfully. The metabolites in Diamond V Nutritional Products have been shown to improve rumen bacterial population, which can improve the digestibility of your feedstuffs and allow your transition/fresh cows to maximize intake and retain body condition with more available nutrients. In addition to these beneficial metabolites, DiaMune SE also provides the highest available organic selenium on the market. This means your cows will have all the benefits of Diamond V yeast culture plus selenium in their diet at an affordable price, all in one product. Diamond V has excellent data amassed over the years, proving this value for your cows and for your dairy.

Contact your local Diamond V sales representative for more information.

(1) Cash Flow of Instituting Reproduction Programs: Cost vs Rewards AABP 39th Annual Convention St Paul MN.