A survey of Mississippi cow-calf producers regarding factors associated with veterinarians performing bull breeding soundness evaluations and/or pregnancy diagnosis

Abstract

Reproductive efficiency is a major driver of profitability in cow-calf herds, yet many beef producers do not hire veterinar­ians to perform services intended to improve reproductive ef­ficiency such as bull breeding soundness evaluation (BSE) or pregnancy diagnosis. The objective of this study was to deter­mine reasons Mississippi cow-calf producers do or do not hire veterinarians to perform these services. Anonymous surveys were mailed to 1,500 randomly selected members of the Missis­sippi Cattlemen’s Association. Multivariable logistic regression was used to test respondent characteristics for association with outcome variables (e.g., respondents hire a veterinarian for BSEs and/or pregnancy diagnosis). Of 414 returned surveys, 397 (96%) qualified for analysis for an overall response rate of 26%. Of respondents that answered the respective ques­tions, 155/386 (40%) hire a veterinarian for BSEs, and 103/392 (26%) hire a veterinarian for pregnancy diagnosis. Of 396 re­spondents, 229 (58%) indicated they had some form of a defined breeding season. The most common reasons for not hiring a veterinarian were lack of time/help (82/202, 41%) for BSEs and cost (91/248, 37%) for pregnancy diagnosis. On in­ferential analysis, the factors positively associated with hiring a veterinarian for BSEs were having a defined breeding season (OR = 6.8, 95% C.I. = 4.1-11.1) and raising seedstock cattle (OR = 1.7, 95%C.I. = 1.0-13.3). The only factor positively associ­ated with hiring a veterinarian for pregnancy diagnosis was having a defined breeding season (OR = 4.2, 95%C.I. = 2.5-7.3). Management style and operation type influenced producers hiring a veterinarian for BSEs and pregnancy diagnosis.