Fertility Factors

Which Ones Are Really Important?

Abstract

The goal of every dairy management team should be to maximize the efficiency of high producing dairy cows so that profitability will increase. The standards which define a high producing dairy cow will move upward as long as genetic progress continues to be made, management priority is placed on cow comfort and improving milk yield, nutrition is improved and new technology is developed and implemented.

The goal of this paper is to present a reasonable case that successful reproductive management in high producing cows can be realized best by focusing on the right factors; the ones that impact fertility the most. This paper will not provide specific programs or recommendations for improvements. These are available from numerous other sources and specific programs must be custom-designed for each herd.