Dairy Cow Fertility
Infertility has been identified as the number one problem on dairy farms and is estimated to cost dairy farmers in Northern Ireland approximately £50 million per year. Improving fertility performance, by addressing management factors contributing to poor fertility, will decrease culling rates and reduce replacement costs.
Dairy Herd Fertility Challenge Notes.
Dairy Herd Fertility Challenge Notes.
This is an online application that will allow you to:
- Assess the fertility performance of your herd.
- Compare it with other herds of a similar calving pattern.
- Identify weaknesses in your herds's fertility performance and identify ways to improve it.
- Assess how much extra profit you could make through improving your herd's fertility performance.
Fertility performance of the Future herd is benchmarked through Fertility Benchmarking Online, a new benchmarking application launched by CAFRE in August 2006. Fertility Benchmarking Online has been developed to allow farmers to benchmark their herd fertility performance from year to year and against herds of similar calving pattern.
Impact of Complex Vertebral Malformation (CVM) on dairy cows fertility (PDF 43 KB)
CVM is a genetic condition in Holstein cattle that leads to embryonic loss and abortion. It is only a problem when two CVM carrier animals are mated and was first discovered in 2000 when the effects of a carrier sire, Carlin-M Ivanhoe Bell, became apparent. At Greenmount, genetic testing of cows descended from CVM carrier bulls were tested for CVM and breeding records analysed. Sires are now selected that are tested free of CVM (*TV).
CVM is a genetic condition in Holstein cattle that leads to embryonic loss and abortion. It is only a problem when two CVM carrier animals are mated and was first discovered in 2000 when the effects of a carrier sire, Carlin-M Ivanhoe Bell, became apparent. At Greenmount, genetic testing of cows descended from CVM carrier bulls were tested for CVM and breeding records analysed. Sires are now selected that are tested free of CVM (*TV).
