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Accurate Heat Detection is at the Core of Maximizing the Economic Value of Heifers

Upon deployment of a monitoring system, the immediate goal is building trust in the accuracy of the heat detection function. As heifers start appearing on the list, they are bred within the optimal time window recommended by the software.

 As heifers are bred, get pregnant, and management’s confidence level increases, the goal evolves from just getting heifers pregnant to timing inseminations for age at first calving at 22-24 months of age and maximizing their first lactation milk production potential.

 

Activity graph, on the bottom ‘Raw Activity” is displayed- the heifer’s actual activity. In red, the changes from the heifer’s ‘Changes from Average’ activity graph showing deviation from her baseline of activity pattern.

 

Once heifers get pregnant in time for optimal calving age consistently, the focus shifts again. Sexed semen is incorporated into the program to maximize the economic return even further. A high level of confidence in the ability to get heifers pregnant justifies the additional risk inherent in this strategy. Accurate heat detection and optimal timing of insemination enable herds to consistently achieve a rate of 1.5 services per conception from sexed semen.

 

Heifers to Breed report. ‘Breeding Window’ (in red square) counts down the number of hours to the expected time of ovulation and color coded green to show the optimal time window to inseminate.

 

For advanced level users, tracking a data set of breeding time relative to the optimal breeding time window suggested by the system and the resulting conception rates are timing the breeding to a narrower window of hours within the cycle to achieve further gain on conception rates.

 

As more heifers bred off the monitoring system calve and join the milking herd, one may be tracking their first lactation performance relative to their reproductive performance. A few advanced users are culling heifers that do not conceive after two services upon recognizing that these problem breeders also deliver sub-par performance in their first lactation. This creates even more economic value in the process.

 

When the repro program is working as a whole, the urgency to impregnate non-responsive heifer virtually disappears. Short-term needs are not allowed to overshadow the long-term view of the milking herd’s profitability.

 

Accurate heat data can have a tremendous impact on the economic value a heifer reproduction program can generate. As certainty increases, the level of risk decreases and allows more flexibility in operational decision making. In turn, this operational flexibility enables the rationalization of economic decision making for both in the short-term and in the long-term.

Source: Collect
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