Economic Concepts Regarding Early Pregnancy Testing

Abstract

Early pregnancy testing plays a key role in determining the reproductive success of a dairy herd and thus its economic efficiency. Fundamentally, early pregnancy determination defines how quickly cows which fail to conceive to a breeding are identified and re-inseminated. Due to the relatively low conception rates, this technology impacts the majority of cows within a herd several times within a lactation cycle. The sensitivity and specificity of tests (attributes of test accuracy) will vary with tests as well as when they are applied post breeding. Pregnancy testing must be coordinated with the herd breeding program so that cows testing open are bred on a timely basis to ensure maximizing the economic value of testing. The value of testing is highly dependent on how soon successful rebreeding can occur. Embryonic death occurs relatively early post breeding and thus can influence the economic attributes of early pregnancy determination. Understanding the underlying structure of the decision process can help in estimating the value of various components of the test in the field application.