ince Dr. Paul Fricke, University of Wisconsin-Madison spoke at the 2015 Central Plains

Dairy Expo, a 30 percent pregnancy rate (PR) on a 30,000 pound dairy herd has been the topic of great interest. Fricke encouraged produc-ers not to be happy with a 20-24% pregnancy rate, but instead strive for 30%. Herd reproductive perfor-mance is critical for profitability, and pregnancy rate affects a multi-tude of areas on the dairy including days in milk, culling, number of replacements born, days open, etc.

Fricke stressed that producers need to focus on four key areas to achieve a 30% 21-day pregnancy rate:

1. Aggressively inseminate cows at the end of the vol-untary waiting period (VWP)Many dairies struggle with

getting semen in cows in a timely manner after the end of the VWP. Today, a variety of tools are avail-able that can help. Monitoring devices (such as CowManager and Heatime) and tail chalk-ing programs increase the effi-ciency of estrous detection. As well, synchroni-zation programs

and timed A.I. can help you get se-men in virtually all eligible animals.

2. Increase fertility of first A.I.Inseminating at the proper time

so that semen reaches the healthy and viable egg is important.

Some of our producers are deter-mining the best time to inseminate by looking at the activity graphs of CowManager and Heatime.

Many of our producers use synchronization programs to utilize

hormones in a structured schedule to initiate ovulation and allow the implementation of timed A.I. There-fore, compliance to the protocols is critical. In a PreSynch/OvSynch protocol, even 95% compliance at each dose isn’t enough because that only translates to 77% compli-ance across the entire program. GnRH based synch programs are also successfully used to induce cyclicity in anovular cows.

3. Identify nonpregnant cows and aggressively reinsemi-nate themRelying on synchronization of

ovulation and timed A.I. can im-prove first service A.I. insemination rates. However after first service, cows that do not become pregnant too often fall through the cracks and do not get re-inseminated dur-ing their next heat cycle because of poor estrous expression or detec-tion. Because 60% or more of lac-tating cows will fail to conceive to a given A.I. service, timely rebreed-ing of these cows is essential for improving reproductive efficiency and profitability. Vet palpation or ultrasound for pregnancy diagnosis is also important to determine if a cow is cystic, noncycling, or in the luteal or follicular phase of the reproductive cycle.

4. Increase fertility of sec-ond and greater servicesStudies have shown that even if

a cow does not become pregnant after the first service, it is possible to achieve a 30% pregnancy rate. Monitoring systems and ReSynch programs are excellent options to improve reproductive efficiency. There are many options for ReSynch programs, including those that can be initiated before pregnancy determination.

To hear more about which program would best fit your dairy, contact your Select Sires profes-sional or myself at 320-229-8346.Select Sires can help you reach your goals.

Interested in 30:30?S

Above: a 300-cow herd that does not heat detect. If a cow is open at preg. check, they re-enter her in a synchronization program. By utilizing heat detection, an activity moni-toring system, or Resynching with GnRH seven days prior to preg check, the herd could increase 4% PR, which could easily save them from $13,000 to $20,000 each year ($44 to $71/cow/yr * x 300 cows).

* ReproMoney Program® UW-Madison, Cabrera

By Jennifer BeckerReproductive SpecialistPhone: 320-229-8346Email: jbecker@mnss.coop