Semex’s Reproductive Link FEBRUARY 2011
In this issue: Up Close With SCR™ Raise Your Heifers Right 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Repro Mgt Programs ai24™ Working From Coast to Coast: Rancho Teresita Dairy
Up Close With SCR™ Since February 2009, ai24™ and Heatime® have been available through a partnership between Micro (based out of Amarillo, Texas) and Semex. Micro and Semex are partnering to provide dairy management solutions to increase profits.
What your role at SCR™? Your background?
SCR™ is the world’s largest manufacturer of electronic milk measurement devices and leads the industry in the field of electronic collar tags.
My title at SCR™ is Chief Scientist. My main responsibility is to be the link between the cow, the farmer, the technology and the software. My background is that of a farmer and a veterinary surgeon. I graduated in 1983 from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and received my doctorate in veterinary medicine from the same university in 1986. I was a practicing bovine veterinarian for 20 years on large farms in the Jordan Valley of Israel and served for more than 10 years as a national and international consultant on production medicine and finally did my PhD at Cornell University (“The cost of mastitis in dairy cows”), graduating in 2007. I still maintain active research with Cornell University to this day.
Their product development strategy is based on the following four principles:
What is Heatime®?
SCR™ Engineering Ltd, the developer and manufacturer of ai24™’s Heatime® product was established in 1976. SCR™ is a privately held company with over 175 employees with corporate offices and production facilities located in Netanya, Israel.
•S calable solutions: solutions can operate as either standalone modules or combined together with other modules to form a full herd management system. •U ser-friendliness and operational simplicity. •H igh reliability with minimal maintenance. • High accuracy. Recently we sat down with SCR™’s Chief Scientist, Dr. Doron Bar.
Generally speaking, Heatime® is an electronic heat detection system operating on the basis of cow activity monitoring. Cow activity is monitored by a sophisticated electronic tag, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Once downloaded from the transponder the data is further analyzed relative to short and long term activity trends of the cow to eliminate false positives and clearly identify a heat. This secondary analysis is one of the many features that separates ai24™’s Heatime® from our competitors. Other differences include our in-house developed motion sensor,
the sophisticated data filtering and analysis inside the tag, the low power consumption of the tag, and the inference free communication between tag and base station just to name a few. Heatime® not only relieves the farmer from the burden of heat detection but is also used to pinpoint insemination timing so that conception rates are optimized.
Why was Heatime® developed? When? Heatime® was developed in the late 1990’s as a result of SCR’s strategic decision to develop computerized herd management solutions to complement its unique pulsation and electronic FreeFlow™ milk meter product lines. In 1998 the first version was developed, but it took about six more years of continuous testing and improvement of hardware and software until the current 85%-90% true heat detection accuracy was reached.
How was it tested? Testing was (and is) a continuous process encompassing trials in academic research institutions and commercial farms worldwide.
How long has it been in use? Until 2004 only several tens of thousands of units were sold annually. As accuracy improved we began seeing a gradual increase in demand. Currently we sell several hundreds of thousands of tags CONTINUED on pg. 3
Just like on the dairy, every dose counts at Semex. We work hard to ensure that each and every dose stamped with the 200 stud code is the very best product available, from the bull to the farm tank. Semex’s focused and dedicated staff prides itself on exceeding industry standards for sire care, laboratory, warehouse and transportation services. This commitment to excellence and belief that every dose counts, guarantees that Semex sires are the most reliable, fertile and profitable choice for dairymen everywhere.
Focus on Fertility Call (877) 545-ai24 or visit www.semex.com
A general rule of thumb is that a heifer should be at 60% of her mature body weight when first breeding occurs. The recommended weight for a breeding age Holstein heifer is approximately 860 lbs; the recommended height is 50 inches. Subpar nutrition and disease in the first few months of life will greatly affect whether these growth targets are met. Monitoring is a critical and overlooked part of a heifer breeding program. In order to manage and focus our resources on the right parts of the breeding program, we need to monitor our results. Traditional measurements of heifer reproductive performance such as conception rate, do not tell the whole story. As an industry, we need to start using pregnancy rate more effectively when talking about heifer reproduction. Although pregnancy rate is becoming the common measurement for assessing the performance of the lactating herd, it is still underutilized when it comes to heifer reproduction. A quick survey of 10 progressive dairy herds show the average pregnancy rate in heifers to be just 26%, showing there is lots of room for improvement. For heifers, this pregnancy rate goal should be much higher. When you consider that heifers have much better fertility and express heats better then lactating counterparts a pregnancy rate of 36% or higher is achievable. To get above 36% pregnancy rate from your heifers, you must look at maximizing your conception and insemination rates. Over the past decade, many tools have been developed to assist dairymen in overcoming some of these heat detection shortfalls. Electronic activity monitoring accuracy and cost effectiveness has improved over the past decade, making it an attractive option for heifers.
Raise Your Heifers Right Mark Carson, MSc. BSc. (Agr)., Gencor Reproductive Specialist
Successful heifer raising is the first step to a healthy and productive first lactation. Getting your heifers to calve by 24 months and be productive as soon as they hit the milking line begins the day she is born. Every step in your heifer rearing process from newborn, to weaning and on to breeding directly impacts the time it will take for her to join the milking herd and generate profits. Age at first calving, heifer pregnancy rate and first lactation stillbirth rate are key monitors that can be used to measure the success of heifer raising programs. Calving out heifers at 24 months of age has major economic and production benefits for your herd. These economic benefits come from decreasing raising costs. These costs are estimated at $2.00 to $3.00 per animal per day past 24 months, and lowering the necessary inventory of replacement heifers that the herd must carry. For example, a herd calves out 50 heifers a year, at an average age of 27 months. Assuming it costs $2.50 per day to raise a heifer, this herd can save up to $11,250 per year, if it resumed age at first calving down to 24 months.
With heifers being a low maintenance animal, heats are often missed simply because no one is around to see them. Many producers are now using electronic activity monitoring systems such as Semex’s ai24™ program using Heatime® to bridge some of the heat detection gaps that commonly develop. With the Heatime® system, collars are placed on the heifers approximately 30 days prior to the start of the breeding period, and removed once the heifer is confirmed pregnant. By watching heifers on a 24-hour basis with activity monitoring, fewer animals slip between the cracks and more get bred on a timely basis. An activity monitoring system can quickly pay for itself if it can help lower the age at first calving to the optimal 24 months. Calving management of heifers is also another over looked, yet critical part to getting productive first lactation cows into the pipeline. Stillbirths and hard calvings in first lactation cows can reach above 10% if not managed correctly. These numbers needs to be monitored and reviewed regularly. The goal should be to keep stillbirth and hard pulls below 5%. To reduce stillbirths and increase calving ease, monitor body condition scores of your heifers, pick sires for calving ease and look at your overall calving management. Herd sires are too commonly used on heifers, as they’re seen as a low input to get heifers pregnant. Although it can appear to be an attractive financial option, there are many costs and risks associated with using a herd sire. Not only do herd sires increase the risk of hard calvings and stillbirths, they also remove the opportunity to optimize sire selection, and may lead to higher inbreeding and less productive cows.
There are also some production benefits from calving heifers out at 24 months. CanWest DHI records show that the heifers that calve out at 24 months of age make 3,300 lbs more milk in their lifetimes than those who calve at 28 months. At $12/cwt, its approximately $400 of revenue lost, by calving the heifer out 4 months later.
Estimated Lost Milk Production Revenue Calving Heifers at 24 months vs 28 months
Estimated Savings Calving Heifers at 24 months vs 28 months # Heifers Raised/Year
Reaching a 24 month calving age means the first breeding must occur at 13 months. A herd with an average heifer conception rate of 60% with good heat detection should start their breeding program at 13 months to ensure the majority of their heifers are pregnant by 15 months, and after carrying the calf for nine months calve at 24 months.
1
In order to have your heifers in top shape for breeding at 13 months, the first 12 months of her life are key. A heifer’s nutrition and health from the day of birth until she reaches the breeding group determines her breeding eligibility and her effectiveness in the breeding program.
Extra Cost to Raise to 28 Mo
# Heifers Raised
$225
1
$ Lost $400
25
$5,625
25
$10,000
50
$11,250
50
$20,000
100
$22,500
100
$40,000
150
$33,750
150
$60,000
200
$45,000
200
$80,000
250
$56,250
250
$100,000
500
$112,500
500
$200,000
1000
$225,000
1000
$400,000
CONTINUED from pg. 1
annually and to date, one million tags have been deployed in over 7,500 farms worldwide. Heatime® systems have been deployed in every country where high-production dairy farms exist, regardless of the type of system used: pasture based or confined space- it just does what it’s supposed to do. We have systems in New Zealand, Australia, China, Japan, Korea, South Africa, all of Western Europe, Scandinavia, UK, Ireland, former Soviet Republic countries, Canada, Mexico, South America and the US.
How accurate is the heat detection? We feel that a farmer can expect 85% to 90% heat detection rate, although we have heard reports of even better results from customers. It is to note that this number is the true heat detection rate. This is the number of heats detected by the system out of the true cycling cows. Translated to the commonly used indicator for heat detection rate in the US which is actually the “21 days submission risk,” this would be usually about 70-75% because some cows do not cycle, some have a long cycle (natural or because of embryonic death) and some have silent heats (natural, social or as a result of bad housing or disease).
What results have been seen on farm? Analyses done, for example by the largest French breeding cooperative and the Danish cattle breeding association on hundreds of dairy farms, consistently display an average reduction of 10 days open per cow. When translated into monetary and economic values, the system cost is returned in about a year!
Does it really work? The best judges of Heatime® technology are dairy farmers. When we launched Heatime® in the UK in 2007 farmers did not trust that Heatime® could deliver on our promises. Through 2010 we’ve gained a 10% market share of UK farms and 25% of the UK national herd. To date we have had a satisfaction level of 99.7%! I take that to mean that the system does work. President Abraham Lincoln said, “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.” With over 7,500 farms and 1,000,000 tags in the field I think we have enough proof that the technology works.
What kind of farms are successful with Heatime®? Heatime® can benefit almost any farm, regardless of size or operating system. Farms that historically have a good reproduction program will see their program continue to show good results, but with less time spent on visual observation and about 80% fewer shots if they relied on a synch program. Farms that historically have had poor reproduction programs will most likely see a marked improvement in their results with less labor and less shots.
What’s the future for Heatime®? The future for Heatime® is very exciting. On the one hand the activity monitoring tag will be fitted with additional monitoring devices. We already have several hundred thousands activity and rumination monitoring tags deployed in commercial farms. This feature opens a new dimension in managing cow health, welfare and nutrition. Also, we’re working on many other cutting edge technological breakthroughs in the area of cow sensors that understandably I can’t reveal here. But, we understand that technology in only part of the deal… User friendliness and usefulness of technology is the real thing. We’re looking to provide farmers with tools to make the work with the Heatime® more efficient. For example, we want to more easily identify cows in need of attention and we’ve developed a mobile tag reader, the DataWand™, which been recently launched in the US. The DataWand™ is loaded with cows in heat (or cows to be PD) lists and identifies cows appearing on the lists once their tags are scanned with various audiovisual alerts. The DataWand™ is extremely useful in locating cows on large farms. At SCR™ we’re never satisfied. We know we can, and have to constantly improve our products and the way farmers are using them in order to keep our current advantage a continuous one, and to ensure the farmer can make the biggest, easiest return. We have developed in-house technologies and ideas that might be copied by others years later… But by that time we promise to again be a few steps ahead!
“With over 7,500 farms and 1,000,000 tags in the field I think we have proof enough that the technology works.”
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“The percentage of cows pregnant at vet check before Heatime® was 70%, now they average 83% and the highest (check) has been 91%,” says Case. Simple to operate, the Kasbergens found Heatime® extremely easy to use and implement. “If you know how to use a computer, this is very simple, with simple commands,” says Case.
Case Kasbergen, Manager, Rancho Teresita Dairy, Tulare, California with wife Allison.
RANCHO TERESITA DAIRY • CORNELL KASBERGEN & FAMILIES 3 500 COWS • TULARE, CALIFORNIA • AI24™ CUSTOMER SINCE JUNE 2009
7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE REPRODUCTIVE MGT PROGRAMS Reprinted with permission from Dairy Herd Management
REPRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY DRIVE PROFITABILITY ON DAIRY FARMS BY MAINTAINING COWS IN THE HERD AT OPTIMAL PRODUCTION LEVELS, NOTES PAUL FRICKE, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN DAIRY CATTLE REPRODUCTIVE SPECIALIST. THEREFORE, ACHIEVING EXCELLENT REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE IS A CRITICAL GOAL. Although numerous management and physiologic factors come into play when it comes to reproductive performance, Fricke recommends that you concentrate on these seven key factors. You’ll be glad you did.
1. Inseminate cows at the correct time. 2. Improve AI efficiency. 3. Inseminate cows quickly after the end of the voluntary waiting period. 4. Maintain high compliance to protocols. 5. Identify non-pregnant cows after AI (but not too early). 6. Promptly re-inseminate non-pregnant cows. 7. Adopt and adapt to new technologies.
2866 Agriculture Drive, Madison, WI 53718 1-877-545-ai24