Most dairy farms today collect data by which they attempt to make informed decisions about how to manage their herds

Heat detection on our farm got more technical yet simpler over time

Calves and heifers that grow well and become productive cows is a target every dairy farm aims for. To reach this end goal, it is helpful to have benchmarks to work toward along the way

Some could argue that the upward trend in reproductive efficiency achieved by U.S. dairy farms started around 2009 with the advent of genomic testing, giving us more information about our animals

With good reason, many people get upset when I start answering a question saying, “It depends.” Generally speaking, people seek straight and simple answers

When I was 8 years old, a tiny, premature calf was born that I absolutely fell in love with. Her body was somewhat average in size, but her legs were short and stubby

Providing A.I. services for hobby farms has become a fun side job for me

Over the past decade, inseminations to sexed semen have grown from 9% of Holsteins and 23% of Jersey heifers and cows in 2009 to 21% of Holstein females and 46% of Jersey females in 2020

“Reproductive efficiency improves the farm’s lifetime production and lifetime profitability if done correctly,” said Rob Lynch, D.V.M., a veterinarian with Cornell’s PRO-DAIRY group

Are we breeding cows wrong? It is an honest question. Have we lost sight of how or when to breed cows?

“We utilize Dairy Comp 305 for our record keeping and record health events weekly,” said Andy Fisher of the importance of herd health records

“We have made several improvements over the past few years to help our cows and heifers that are safe in calf,” said Travis Holmes, the lone repeat winner in the 13th Annual Dairy Cattle Reproduction...

“We are extremely particular about the nutrient balance in our prefresh and postfresh rations,” explained Paul Colgan of Patterson Farms

I began my professional career in 1980 just as a number of proven reproductive technologies arrived on the marketplace in North America

Getting cows pregnant not only returns them to productivity quicker, the value of those calves can provide a significant revenue stream for the dairy

Reproductive physiology is unique. The field is a subspecialty of the physiology discipline that includes the studies of andrology, gynecology, theriogenology, and obstetrics, which imply a clinical application

Dairy herds have made great strides in reproductive efficiency over the years. One only has to look at numbers from just two decades ago to note these remarkable improvements

The implications of high pregnancy rates on reproductive strategiespresented by Paul Fricke, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Remember that a cow is a mother, and her calf is a baby.” — W.D. Hoard

Once conception occurs in every species, there is always a chance that the newly formed embryo will not survive to birth. Loss of pregnancy is frustrating and can occur at various stages of gestation