Reasons DHI Cows Exit the Herd (2013)

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Reasons that cows in Dairy Herd Improvement programs exit the herd (2013)

TABLE 1. Percentages of cows (ALL BREEDS and CROSSBREDS) completing lactations.

TABLE 2. Percentages of cows (ALL BREEDS and CROSSBREDS) leaving the herd except for dairy purposes.

TABLE 3. Percentages of HOLSTEIN cows completing lactations.

TABLE 4. Percentages of JERSEY cows completing lactations.

TABLE 5. Percentages of AYRSHIRE, BROWN SWISS, GUERNSEY, MILKING SHORTHORN, and RED & WHITE cows completing lactations.

TABLE 6. Percentages of CROSSBRED cows completing lactations.

TABLE 7. Percentages of HOLSTEIN cows leaving the herd except for dairy purposes.

TABLE 8. Percentages of JERSEY cows leaving the herd except for dairy purposes.

TABLE 9. Percentages of AYRSHIRE, BROWN SWISS, GUERNSEY, MILKING SHORTHORN, and RED & WHITE cows leaving the herd except for dairy purposes.

TABLE 10. Percentages of CROSSBRED cows leaving the herd except for dairy purposes.

NOTE: Crossbreds were categorized into 2 groups depending on the extent of heterosis: those with heterosis of >90% (CB90) and those with heterosis of 50 to 90% (CB50). The CB90 group was primarily first-generation (F1) crosses between 2 breeds or offspring of a third-breed sire and an F1-crossbred dam of 2 other breeds; the CB50 group was backcross offspring from an F1 dam and a sire from 1 of the F1 parent breeds.

For additional background information, see AIPL Research Report CULL1 (9-09).

TABLE 1. Percentages of cows (ALL BREEDS and CROSSBREDS) completing lactations by reason for termination and breed (2013).

SAS Output

Destination code	Termination code	Ayrshire	Brown Swiss	Guernsey	Holstein	Jersey	Milking Shorthorn	Red & White	CB90	CB50	All
Stayed in herd	Lactation ended normally (0)	66.8	62.5	61.9	63.1	67.0	63.3	63.1	68.7	68.9	63.7
	Lactation ended with abortion (8)	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.3
Sold for dairy (2)		5.1	6.0	7.1	3.0	6.7	7.4	4.9	2.7	3.5	3.4
Sold for slaughter	Locomotion problems (1)	1.2	1.8	1.2	1.7	0.5	0.8	1.9	1.2	1.2	1.5
	Low production (3)	4.4	4.8	3.1	6.8	5.8	5.9	4.1	6.7	6.6	6.7
	Reproduction problems (4)	6.4	6.8	6.0	5.3	3.4	5.9	7.6	3.9	4.0	5.1
	Unspecified reasons (5)	8.8	9.2	10.7	10.2	7.9	8.5	9.1	7.9	7.2	9.9
	Mastitis or high SCS (7)	2.4	3.0	2.7	4.3	3.3	3.3	3.9	3.9	3.8	4.2
	Undesirable conformation (A)				0.0	0.0			0.0	0.0	0.0
	Bad behavior (B)	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
Died (6)		4.5	5.4	6.8	5.4	5.1	4.3	4.9	4.6	4.5	5.3
Records (no.)		8,598	22,736	7,217	3,287,872	297,081	3,199	3,937	111,309	49,896	3,836,519
Herds (no.)		924	2,020	555	16,918	4,063	483	735	6,127	4,471	40,335

¹Breed is determined from individual cow records, and cow's breed is used to determine the breed for herd counts. For example, a Holstein herd with a few Jersey cows would be included in the herd count for both Holsteins and Jerseys. The total number of herds across all breeds is much higher than the actual number of herds in Dairy Herd Improvement programs.

TABLE 2. Percentages of cows (ALL BREEDS and CROSSBREDS) leaving the herd except for dairy purposes by reason for termination and breed (2013).

SAS Output

Termination code	Ayrshire	Brown Swiss	Guernsey	Holstein	Jersey	Milking Shorthorn	Red & White	CB90	CB50	All
Locomotion problems (1)	4.2	5.8	4.0	4.9	1.8	2.7	6.0	4.1	4.3	4.7
Low production (3)	15.9	15.4	10.3	20.2	22.3	20.5	12.9	23.6	24.1	20.4
Reproduction problems (4)	22.9	21.9	19.7	15.7	13.0	20.6	24.0	13.9	14.6	15.5
Unspecified reasons (5)	31.7	29.5	34.8	30.2	30.5	29.3	28.8	28.0	26.5	30.2
Mastitis or high SCS (7)	8.7	9.7	9.0	12.8	12.9	11.5	12.4	13.8	13.8	12.8
Undesirable conformation (A)				0.0	0.0			0.0	0.0	0.0
Bad behavior (B)	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.2	0.1
Died (6)	16.2	17.4	22.2	16.1	19.5	15.0	15.5	16.4	16.6	16.3
Records (no.)	2,391	7,061	2,212	1,103,819	77,232	924	1,245	31,446	13,605	1,253,355
Herds (no.)	548	1,233	375	16,282	2,912	259	415	4,004	2,700	31,119

TABLE 3. Percentages of HOLSTEIN cows completing lactations by reason for termination and parity (2013).

SAS Output

Destination code	Termination code	Parity 1	Parity 2	Parity 3	Parity 4	Parity 5	Parity 6+	All parities
Stayed in herd	Lactation ended normally (0)	73.1	65.8	57.5	49.7	44.0	38.0	63.1
	Lactation ended with abortion (8)	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3
Sold for dairy (2)		4.1	2.7	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.4	3.0
Sold for slaughter	Locomotion problems (1)	0.8	1.3	2.1	3.0	3.5	3.9	1.7
	Low production (3)	5.6	6.8	7.3	7.9	8.5	9.6	6.8
	Reproduction problems (4)	4.2	5.6	5.8	6.0	6.3	6.7	5.3
	Unspecified reasons (5)	6.7	8.9	12.1	15.0	17.3	19.6	10.2
	Mastitis or high SCS (7)	1.9	3.9	5.8	7.2	8.1	8.8	4.3
	Undesirable conformation (A)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
	Bad behavior (B)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Died (6)		3.2	4.6	6.8	8.7	10.0	10.8	5.4
Records (no.)		1,170,410	892,222	598,428	340,752	168,716	117,344	3,287,872

TABLE 4. Percentages of JERSEY cows completing lactations by reason for termination and parity (2013).

SAS Output

Destination code	Termination code	Parity 1	Parity 2	Parity 3	Parity 4	Parity 5	Parity 6+	All parities
Stayed in herd	Lactation ended normally (0)	72.0	71.8	66.3	59.9	53.2	46.6	67.0
	Lactation ended with abortion (8)	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.3
Sold for dairy (2)		11.0	5.8	3.9	3.1	3.4	3.8	6.7
Sold for slaughter	Locomotion problems (1)	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.8	1.1	1.4	0.5
	Low production (3)	4.8	5.9	6.0	6.5	7.5	7.7	5.8
	Reproduction problems (4)	2.7	3.3	3.6	3.9	4.7	4.7	3.4
	Unspecified reasons (5)	4.6	6.2	9.0	11.8	14.5	18.3	7.9
	Mastitis or high SCS (7)	1.7	2.6	4.2	5.5	6.0	7.1	3.3
	Undesirable conformation (A)	0.0	0.0		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
	Bad behavior (B)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0		0.0
Died (6)		2.8	3.9	6.2	8.2	9.2	10.2	5.1
Records (no.)		103,859	74,212	50,306	33,036	18,780	16,888	297,081

TABLE 5. Percentages of other purebred cows (AYRSHIRE, BROWN SWISS, GUERNSEY, MILKING SHORTHORN, and RED & WHITE) completing lactations by destination category, reason for termination, and parity (2013).

SAS Output

Destination code	Termination code	Parity 1	Parity 2	Parity 3	Parity 4	Parity 5	Parity 6+	All parities
Stayed in herd	Lactation ended normally (0)	71.9	67.5	62.9	56.7	50.9	46.1	64.6
	Lactation ended with abortion (8)	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.4
Sold for dairy (2)		5.9	4.7	4.0	3.9	3.2	3.6	4.7
Sold for slaughter	Locomotion problems (1)	0.8	1.1	1.6	2.2	2.3	2.9	1.4
	Low production (3)	4.5	5.6	5.8	6.1	7.0	7.2	5.5
	Reproduction problems (4)	4.1	5.4	5.8	6.1	6.8	6.4	5.3
	Unspecified reasons (5)	7.0	8.6	9.8	12.3	14.1	16.8	9.6
	Mastitis or high SCS (7)	2.2	2.8	4.1	5.0	6.9	6.6	3.6
	Undesirable conformation (A)					0.0		0.0
	Bad behavior (B)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0
Died (6)		3.1	3.9	5.5	7.3	8.3	9.9	5.0
Records (no.)		29,371	22,163	15,537	10,330	5,870	5,136	88,407

TABLE 6. Percentages of CROSSBRED cows completing lactations by destination category, reason for termination, and parity (2013).

SAS Output

Destination code	Termination code	Parity 1	Parity 2	Parity 3	Parity 4	Parity 5	Parity 6+	All parities
Stayed in herd	Lactation ended normally (0)	76.7	71.2	63.2	56.3	51.1	44.5	68.7
	Lactation ended with abortion (8)	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3
Sold for dairy (2)		4.2	2.4	2.1	1.9	2.4	2.8	3.0
Sold for slaughter	Locomotion problems (1)	0.6	0.9	1.4	2.1	3.1	3.4	1.2
	Low production (3)	5.2	7.2	7.7	7.8	8.2	7.8	6.6
	Reproduction problems (4)	3.2	4.0	4.4	4.5	5.3	6.1	3.9
	Unspecified reasons (5)	4.9	6.8	9.6	12.4	13.2	16.3	7.7
	Mastitis or high SCS (7)	2.1	3.4	5.2	6.6	7.3	8.8	3.9
	Undesirable conformation (A)	0.0		0.0	0.0			0.0
	Bad behavior (B)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0
Died (6)		2.7	3.8	6.0	8.0	9.1	9.9	4.6
Records (no.)		60,638	44,801	28,226	15,546	7,384	4,610	161,205

TABLE 7. Percentages of HOLSTEIN cows leaving the herd except for dairy purposes by reason for termination and parity (2013).

SAS Output

Termination code	Parity 1	Parity 2	Parity 3	Parity 4	Parity 5	Parity 6+	All parities
Locomotion problems (1)	3.6	4.2	5.3	6.3	6.6	6.6	4.9
Low production (3)	25.0	21.9	18.2	16.5	15.8	16.1	20.2
Reproduction problems (4)	18.8	18.0	14.6	12.5	11.7	11.3	15.7
Unspecified reasons (5)	29.7	28.7	30.3	31.4	32.2	33.0	30.2
Mastitis or high SCS (7)	8.6	12.5	14.6	15.1	15.0	14.8	12.8
Undesirable conformation (A)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Bad behavior (B)	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Died (6)	14.1	14.6	16.9	18.2	18.7	18.1	16.1
Records (no.)	263,259	278,347	238,974	163,032	90,408	69,799	1,103,819

TABLE 8. Percentages of JERSEY cows leaving the herd except for dairy purposes by reason for termination and parity (2013).

SAS Output

Termination code	Parity 1	Parity 2	Parity 3	Parity 4	Parity 5	Parity 6+	All parities
Locomotion problems (1)	1.0	1.4	1.7	2.1	2.6	2.8	1.8
Low production (3)	28.8	26.6	20.5	17.7	17.3	15.5	22.3
Reproduction problems (4)	15.9	15.0	12.2	10.7	10.9	9.6	13.0
Unspecified reasons (5)	27.4	27.8	30.6	32.2	33.7	37.0	30.5
Mastitis or high SCS (7)	10.2	11.6	14.1	15.0	14.0	14.4	12.9
Undesirable conformation (A)	0.0	0.0		0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Bad behavior (B)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0		0.0
Died (6)	16.7	17.6	20.8	22.4	21.5	20.7	19.5
Records (no.)	17,374	16,421	14,864	12,149	8,088	8,336	77,232

TABLE 9. Percentages of other purebred cows (AYRSHIRE, BROWN SWISS, GUERNSEY, MILKING SHORTHORN, and RED & WHITE) leaving the herd except for dairy purposes by reason for termination and parity (2013).

SAS Output

Termination code	Parity 1	Parity 2	Parity 3	Parity 4	Parity 5	Parity 6+	All parities
Locomotion problems (1)	3.6	3.8	4.9	5.6	5.0	5.9	4.6
Low production (3)	20.8	20.3	17.7	15.6	15.4	14.3	18.1
Reproduction problems (4)	19.0	19.8	17.8	15.6	15.0	12.9	17.5
Unspecified reasons (5)	32.3	31.3	30.0	31.6	31.1	33.7	31.6
Mastitis or high SCS (7)	9.9	10.3	12.5	12.8	15.1	13.1	11.8
Undesirable conformation (A)					0.0		0.0
Bad behavior (B)	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1
Died (6)	14.3	14.4	17.0	18.6	18.2	19.9	16.4
Records (no.)	6,399	6,079	5,074	4,029	2,668	2,566	26,815

TABLE 10. Percentages of CROSSBRED cows leaving the herd except for dairy purposes by reason for termination and parity (2013).

SAS Output

Termination code	Parity 1	Parity 2	Parity 3	Parity 4	Parity 5	Parity 6+	All parities
Locomotion problems (1)	3.3	3.3	4.1	5.1	6.6	6.5	4.2
Low production (3)	27.5	27.6	22.3	18.8	17.8	14.9	23.7
Reproduction problems (4)	17.1	15.3	12.8	10.9	11.5	11.7	14.1
Unspecified reasons (5)	26.3	26.1	28.0	29.9	28.6	31.1	27.6
Mastitis or high SCS (7)	11.1	13.0	15.0	15.8	15.7	16.7	13.8
Undesirable conformation (A)	0.0		0.0	0.0			0.0
Bad behavior (B)	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Died (6)	14.5	14.5	17.5	19.3	19.7	18.9	16.5
Records (no.)	11,354	11,687	9,708	6,473	3,416	2,413	45,051

Contact: Jan Wright, 301-504-8669, jan.wright@ars.usda.gov

Last Modified: 07/16/2014