Location matters — in real estate, business, and A.I. During natural service, a mature bull deposits 8 to 10 billion sperm in the anterior vagina, near the cervix of the cow. One of the advantages...
Appropriate semen storage and handling is critical to the success of A.I. The liquid nitrogen semen storage tank actually consists of two tanks, with a smaller tank housed inside a larger tank
To all the avid Hoard’s Dairyman readers out there — thank you! Over the nearly 15 years since graduate school, I’ve written articles for different publications
We know that inbreeding rates accelerated after the introduction of genomic selection in 2009. Part of this shift is simply because we are turning our generations over more rapidly, which raises inbre
One of the three largest expenses on a dairy farm is raising replacements, and the greatest cost in that category is the feed it takes to get a heifer from birth to first lactation
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
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
“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...