u REDUCE YOUR CULLING COSTS

OPPORTUNITIES TO REDUCE HERD TURNOVER COSTS

Lyle Kruse, vice president of U.S. market development, Select Sires Inc.

Based on extensive dairy financial research conducted by Compeer Financial and Zoetis, herd turnover costs are one of the six key metrics for dairy profitability1. In recent years, many progressive dairies in the U.S. have made great strides in reducing herd turnover costs with reduced rearing of excess heifers. This practice should eventually lead to less “forced culling” of productive and profitable older cows just to make room for a promising young cow.

The cost of cow turnover is not just the difference between replacement heifer costs and the value of a cull cow. Consider the productivity potential of the animal being removed compared with a new cow. First lactation cows produce 15 percent less milk than second lactation cows and 25 percent less than third lactation cows. Replacing a healthy, older cow with a first-lactation animal represents a significant loss in current productivity and individual animal cash flow.

I have had the opportunity to analyze dairy software files from dairy operations across many states in the U.S. and I still see great opportunity to reduce herd turnover costs within many dairy operations. Here are a few areas to consider as you look at how to plan for your future replacement costs:

Reducing newborn heifer losses

Let’s start at the very beginning and take action to reduce newborn heifer loss. While the dairy industry has made great strides in the last decade to reduce calf loss from live birth to the first two weeks of age, this continues to be the stage in calf life with the highest percentage of heifer calf loss and there remains great potential for improvement within many dairy operations. Along with elevated heifer loss in the early days of their developmental life, there is also the potential for permanent damage to lung capacity for heifers compromised by pneumonia, leading to heifers who never reach their genetic potential for milk production and herd life.

There is a two-pronged approach to reducing newborn heifer loss: genetics and management. Before a heifer calf hits the ground, farmers can invest in elite health and wellness sires that equip these calves with genetics to combat health challenges. Genetic research and development has opened up many doors to traits specific to calf health and wellness, from Zoetis’ allencompassing Calf Wellness Index™ (CW$™) to more individual traits like Calf Respiratory Disease, Calf Scours and Heifer Livability.

Management is the second key in reducing heifer loss and Select Sires has a broad portfolio of products that can both protect young calves and help them overcome sickness. To learn more about these products, scan the QR code:

Reduce replacement heifers non-completion rate

My second suggestion for reducing herd turnover cost comes from a broad perspective of dairy analysis. Dairy heifer noncompletion rate (N/C rate) is defined as the percentage of heifers born alive that leave the herd before their first calving. In the summer of 2021, I collected N/C rate data from our vast team of Select Sires reproductive and genetic consultants throughout the U.S. The data set included N/C rates from 330 progressive dairies averaging over 2,000 mature cows per operation from all regions in the U.S. From that extensive data set, the average heifer N/C rate was 13 percent. This data included a range of 4% up to more than 30 N/C rates. From birth to calving, a heifer must overcome many hurdles in order to enter the milking string and avoid being a part of the herd’s N/C rate. By managing these hurdles, farmers can reduce N/C rates, reduce herd turnover costs and in turn return more profit to the dairy.

Opportunities in dairy heifer reproductive efficiency

Traditionally, dairy heifers outpaced lactating cows in terms of reproductive efficiency, however in recent years, it is not uncommon to find dairy operations with annualized pregnancy rates in cows that exceed 30 percent. Based on data reports from many dairy operations, the pregnancy rate and reproductive efficiency in the replacement heifers have great opportunity for improvement. And as feed and labor costs have risen in recent months, the cost per day to feed a replacement heifer has also seen significant increases, adding more urgency to identify opportunities in streamlining heifer reproduction.

REFERENCES 1 Zoetis and Compeer Financial’s analysis of 11 years of herd data from 489 year-end financial and production record summaries identified six key drivers of profitability on dairies based on net farm income, or NFI (NFI over 11 years averaged $1.23/cwt.1). Herds that perform well in these areas achieve healthier cows, higher profits and greater staying power, lactation after lactation. Somatic Cell Counts, Energy-corrected Milk per Cow, Death Losses, Net Herd Turnover Costs Pregnancy Rates, Heifer Survival.

TIPS TO IMPROVE HEIFER REPRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY

For Holstein heifers, attempt to raise heifers that reach growth size and weight targets by 13 months of age with a very high percentage of these heifers already past puberty and cycling regularly. Often dairy operations with Jersey heifers will shoot for a 12-month target to have Jersey heifers ready for their first service.

Traditionally, 21-day pregnancy rate (PR) has been the key metric used to measure reproductive efficiency, which combines the percentage of heifer heats detected and the conception rates.

There is opportunity and good return on investment to expand

use of automated monitoring systems,

like CowManager® to improve heifer reproductive efficiency and improved insemination timing. Also, the selective use of hormone intervention can help improve heifer reproduction. There is potential for an active debate about the best age for dairy heifers to calve for the first time.

The most common target is 22-23 months of age, which requires age at first service of 13-14 months of age.

From my experience, in order to achieve reproductive efficiency in heifer groups, herds must set the proper age at first service and then be very aggressive to get every heifer serviced as close to that range as possible. Preferably, all heifers should be at the

target age for first service within 40-45 days.

Achieving 21-day heifer pregnancy rates above 40 percent are attainable.

Some herds are approaching 50 percent PR, even with a high percentage of sexed

semen used for the first and second services. Another heifer reproductive metric I like to use is the days beyond the age at first service it takes to get 50 percent of the heifers pregnant. The top heifer reproduction operations are getting 50 percent of their

heifers pregnant at less

than 10 days.*

Another opportunity I see today to manage heifer reproductive efficiency is to establish a specific cutoff age when heifers will be given the opportunity to get pregnant before they are culled from the operation. With the higher costs per day to feed replacements, this becomes even more critical to reduce herd replacement costs.

With our network of highly trained and experienced genetic and reproductive consultants, Select Sires is well equipped to help you manage herd turnover costs, including helping you reduce heifer non- completion rates. For more information or a genetic and reproductive overview, please give us a call. u

* This data is available in the Select Sires RePRO Analysis™ program that Select Sires consultants utilize to analyze genetic and reproductive records.