Andy Skidmore

Reproductive performance has declined over the last several decades in the United States. Reproductive performance is an inter-play between management, environment and cow biological factors. See Figure 1 for a chart summarizing the many factors that influence the cause and effect of pregnancy in dairy cattle. The decline in fertility has been associated with many factors such as milk production a ...

Inconsistent and confusing metrics for evaluation often leave dairy producers wondering how to interpret and apply reproductive data to their herds. Relevant information can be buried by inherent issues with data such as variability, lag time between conception and pregnancy diagnosis, bias of including pregnant or open cows only and momentum, a term used when historical data overshadow current da ...