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Reproductive status of cows in Dairy Herd Improvement programs and bred using artificial insemination (2017)

H.D. Norman, L.M. Walton, and J.W. Dürr

Background

Several measures of reproductive performance are summarized from Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) herds. Norman et al. (2009, Journal of Dairy Science 92:3517-3528) provided a comprehensive summary from 1996 through 2007 of 9 reproductive traits for U.S. Holsteins and Jerseys in DHI herds. This report provides updated statistics for 7 of these reproductive traits by breed and year. Historically most reproductive performance studies were limited to days open or calving intervals, often from research herds.

More selection emphasis has been placed on fertility in recent years following a steady decline in a few of the important reproductive traits. For example, days open, which is used to calculate pregnancy rate for genetic evaluations increased by 37 days for Holsteins from 1960 through 2000; around 75% of that increase in days open was attributed to the change in correlated traits, a consequence of selection for higher milk trait yields.

The purpose of this 2018 annual report is to provide updates for several of the important reproductive traits. The phenotypic averages provided are a reflection of both genetic and environmental changes. A few traits have shown improvement since 2007; others deteriorated for a time, but all now show slight or considerable improvement. Obviously, Holsteins and Jerseys drive industry trends because they account for a high percentage of the U.S. cow population. Considerable fluctuation across time is evident for a few of the other breeds, most likely because of their smaller population sizes.


Table Summaries

TABLE 1. 20171 REPRODUCTIVE TRAIT AVERAGES AND STANDARD ERRORS BY BREED.
 
SAS Output
Trait Ayrshire Brown_Swiss Guernsey Holstein Jersey M_Shorthorn RedWhite
Breedings per conception 1.9± 0.03 2.4± 0.02 2.3± 0.03 2.2± 0.00 2.1± 0.00 1.7± 0.04 2.2± 0.05
Days from calving to first breeding 90± 0.8 87± 0.4 94± 0.9 78± 0.0 86± 0.1 92± 1.6 81± 1.1
Days from calving to last breeding 124± 1.5 135± 1.0 140± 2.0 117± 0.0 118± 0.2 116± 2.4 118± 2.4
Days from first to last breeding 40± 1.2 60± 0.9 61± 1.7 48± 0.0 41± 0.2 32± 1.8 48± 2.1
Conception rate for first breedings 0.39± .010 0.31± .005 0.27± .009 0.37± .000 0.41± .001 0.40± .018 0.34± .016
Conception rate for all breedings 0.38± .007 0.29± .003 0.26± .005 0.34± .000 0.36± .001 0.38± .012 0.33± .010
Calving interval 410± 2.0 430± 1.3 435± 2.6 398± 0.1 395± 0.2 408± 3.8 408± 3.1

1Cows first bred in 2017 for all traits except calving interval; for calving interval, cows with first calving for the interval in 2016.
  • The fewest breedings per conception was 1.7 for Milking Shorthorns; the highest was 2.4 for Brown Swiss.
  • Days from calving to first breeding averaged 78 for Holsteins and 86 for Jerseys; the other breed averages ranged from 81 to 94 days.
  • Days from calving to last breeding were fewest and similar for Milking Shorthorn, Holsteins, Red and Whites, and Jerseys (116 to 118) and highest for Guernseys and Brown Swiss (140 and 135).
  • Days from first to last breeding, the breeding interval, were fewest for Milking Shorthorn (32) and highest for Brown Swiss (60) and Guernseys (61); Ayrshires and Jerseys averaged 40 and 41 and Holsteins averaged 48 days.
  • Conception rate for first breedings was high for Ayrshire (39%), Milking Shorthorns (40%), and Jerseys (41%), and lowest (27%) for Guernseys; Holsteins averaged 37%.
  • Breeds had similar results for conception rate for all breedings as for first breedings, but generally slightly lower.
  • Calving interval (days) was shortest for Jerseys (395) and longest for Guernseys (435) and Brown Swiss (430); Holsteins averaged 398.


 
TABLE 2. AVERAGE NUMBERS OF INSEMINATIONS PER CONCEPTION BY BREED AND YEAR OF FIRST BREEDING.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Ayrshire 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9
Brown Swiss 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4
Guernsey 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.3 2.3
Holstein 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.2
Jersey 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.1
Milking Shorthorn 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.7 1.9 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.7
Red & White 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2

  • Inseminations per conception (or number of services/conception) usually declined after 2007, by 0.1 to 0.3.
  • The inseminations for breeds averaged from 1.7 to 2.4 in 2017.

 
TABLE 3. AVERAGE DAYS FROM CALVING TO FIRST BREEDING BY BREED AND BREEDING YEAR.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Ayrshire 94 93 92 94 95 95 92 91 93 94 90
Brown Swiss 92 92 90 89 89 87 88 89 88 88 87
Guernsey 93 95 88 90 91 92 88 93 92 91 94
Holstein 85 83 81 81 79 78 78 78 78 78 78
Jersey 83 78 76 77 76 75 74 76 79 82 86
Milking Shorthorn 95 94 88 93 99 95 91 92 91 90 92
Red & White 87 86 86 84 85 85 84 85 84 84 81

  • Days from calving to first breeding decreased by 3 to 7 days since 2007 in Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Holsteins, Milking Shorthorns and Red and Whites. It increased by 1 and 3 days for the remaining two breeds.
  • Norman et al. (2009) indicated that some of the early decreases resulted from the practices of heat synchronization and timed AI.

 
TABLE 4. AVERAGE DAYS FROM CALVING TO LAST BREEDING BY BREED AND YEAR OF FIRST BREEDING.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Ayrshire 134 131 132 132 134 133 126 126 125 127 124
Brown Swiss 155 152 146 147 144 140 143 141 141 141 135
Guernsey 152 149 147 145 144 146 142 144 141 140 140
Holstein 141 136 133 132 130 126 126 124 122 120 117
Jersey 126 121 116 115 113 110 110 111 114 116 118
Milking Shorthorn 122 122 121 123 132 121 123 118 119 120 116
Red & White 143 133 136 129 128 127 126 127 125 124 118

  • Days from calving to last breeding decreased by 6 to 25 days for all breeds from 10 years earlier.
  • The Red and Whites, Holsteins, and Brown Swiss showed the largest decreases of 25, 24, and 20 days, respectively.

 
TABLE 5. AVERAGE DAYS FROM FIRST TO LAST BREEDING BY BREED AND YEAR OF FIRST BREEDING.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Ayrshire 48 42 47 50 47 47 44 43 41 40 40
Brown Swiss 78 73 69 72 69 66 67 66 65 63 60
Guernsey 76 71 73 71 65 65 67 68 64 63 61
Holstein 67 63 62 62 61 58 58 56 55 52 48
Jersey 54 52 48 47 45 43 45 44 43 44 41
Milking Shorthorn 35 37 41 36 38 30 40 33 36 36 32
Red & White 64 56 57 53 48 48 51 50 49 49 48

  • The breeding interval varied considerably, averaging 32 to 61 days for breeds.
  • Breeding intervals are shorter in 2017 by 3 to 19 days than in 2007 for all breeds.

 
TABLE 6. AVERAGE CONCEPTION RATES FOR FIRST BREEDINGS BY BREED AND BREEDING YEAR.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Ayrshire 0.37 0.39 0.38 0.36 0.37 0.38 0.41 0.41 0.40 0.42 0.39
Brown Swiss 0.28 0.27 0.29 0.29 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.29 0.30 0.31
Guernsey 0.27 0.26 0.25 0.27 0.29 0.29 0.28 0.29 0.30 0.29 0.27
Holstein 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.33 0.33 0.34 0.34 0.36 0.37
Jersey 0.39 0.39 0.40 0.41 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41
Milking Shorthorn 0.40 0.41 0.38 0.42 0.39 0.43 0.39 0.43 0.39 0.40 0.40
Red & White 0.28 0.33 0.35 0.33 0.35 0.37 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.34 0.34

  • Jerseys, Milking Shorthorn and Ayrshires, had the highest conception rates for first breedings in 2017 at 41, 40, and 39%, respectively. The conception rates for first breedings were lowest for Guernseys and Brown Swiss at 27 and 31%. Lowest conception rates for Holsteins were from 2007 to 2011 (32%) and the highest was in 2017 (37%).

 
TABLE 7. AVERAGE CONCEPTION RATES FOR ALL BREEDINGS BY BREED AND YEAR OF FIRST BREEDING.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Ayrshire 0.36 0.39 0.37 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.38 0.40 0.39 0.40 0.38
Brown Swiss 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.29
Guernsey 0.26 0.24 0.24 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.26
Holstein 0.30 0.30 0.31 0.30 0.30 0.31 0.31 0.32 0.32 0.33 0.34
Jersey 0.35 0.35 0.36 0.37 0.37 0.38 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.36 0.36
Milking Shorthorn 0.38 0.40 0.36 0.39 0.38 0.41 0.37 0.41 0.37 0.38 0.38
Red & White 0.29 0.31 0.34 0.34 0.33 0.34 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.34 0.33

  • Ayrshires and Milking Shorthorn had the highest average conception rates in 2017 for all breedings (38%), followed by Jerseys (36%), while Guernseys and Brown Swiss had the lowest rates (26 and 29%)
  • The conception rates for all breedings in 2017 were lower (1 to 5%) than those from first breedings in all breeds.

 
    TABLE 8. AVERAGE CALVING INTERVALS (DAYS) BY BREED AND YEAR OF FIRST CALVING FOR THE INTERVAL.
     
    SAS Output
    Breed 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
    Ayrshire 416 418 413 418 421 417 410 410 409 410
    Brown Swiss 448 448 440 432 434 430 430 432 430 430
    Guernsey 439 441 435 432 436 432 430 431 432 435
    Holstein 418 417 412 409 408 404 403 401 399 398
    Jersey 402 400 396 393 392 390 388 391 395 395
    Milking Shorthorn 419 412 408 402 420 406 406 407 410 408
    Red & White 422 417 412 416 416 409 408 411 408 408

  • The long-term increases in calving interval shown by Nieuwhof et al. (1989) and Hare et al. (2006) has ended and has decreased since 2007.
    • Length of calving interval for Holsteins has decreased from 418 days in 2007 to 398 days in 2016.
    • Jersey calving intervals decreased by 402 days in 2007 to 388 days in 2013, but increased by 7 days from 2013 to 2016.
    • Brown Swiss calving intervals decreased from 448 days in 2007 to 430 days in 2016.
  • The positive economic impact from these reduced calving intervals cannot be overemphasized, as it reflects a valuable measure of the overall reproductive picture.
  • Continued improvement of this trait is especially important to herds engaged in seasonal calving.

 
TABLE 9. NUMBERS OF RECORDS (2003–12): A) AYRSHIRE, B) BROWN SWISS, C) GUERNSEY, D) HOLSTEIN, E) JERSEY), F) MILKING SHORTHORN, AND G) RED & WHITE USED TO CALCULATE REPRODUCTIVE STATISTICS BY BREED, TRAIT, AND YEAR.
  • Information in Tables 1 through 8 was based on the numbers of records in Tables 9A through 9G.
  • The number of reproductive records for Jerseys nearly doubled across the decade. The number of Holstein reproduction records increased substantially as well indicating that more dairy producers are taking advantage of this management option.

A) AYRSHIRE
 
SAS Output
Trait 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Breedings per conception 3,636 3,548 3,194 3,716 3,631 3,794 3,484 3,244 3,235 3,088 2,501
Days from calving to first breeding 3,750 3,699 3,307 3,862 3,791 3,936 3,590 3,363 3,357 3,208 2,606
Days from calving to last breeding 2,698 2,613 2,365 2,669 2,671 2,770 2,627 2,484 2,380 2,306 1,801
Days from first to last breeding 3,636 3,548 3,194 3,716 3,631 3,794 3,484 3,244 3,235 3,088 2,501
Conception rate for first breedings 3,356 3,191 2,915 3,390 3,367 3,488 3,210 3,009 2,929 2,825 2,292
Conception rate for all breedings 7,290 7,007 6,111 7,566 7,352 7,666 6,971 6,229 6,162 5,797 4,842
Calving interval 1,749 1,686 1,558 1,866 1,948 1,914 1,726 1,710 1,599 1,354  




B) BROWN SWISS
 
SAS Output
Trait 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Breedings per conception 9,722 9,972 9,617 10,163 10,326 10,112 9,777 9,777 10,275 9,516 9,007
Days from calving to first breeding 10,088 10,339 10,020 10,515 10,717 10,505 10,117 10,098 10,657 9,895 9,348
Days from calving to last breeding 6,257 6,417 6,278 6,772 6,823 6,690 6,583 6,476 6,727 6,282 5,978
Days from first to last breeding 9,722 9,972 9,617 10,163 10,326 10,112 9,777 9,777 10,275 9,516 9,007
Conception rate for first breedings 9,171 9,177 8,980 9,481 9,691 9,482 9,186 9,034 9,565 8,872 8,372
Conception rate for all breedings 25,257 25,345 23,948 24,739 25,258 24,677 23,776 23,901 24,778 23,333 21,608
Calving interval 5,044 4,891 5,031 5,362 5,198 5,138 5,015 5,147 4,977 4,580  




C) GUERNSEY
 
SAS Output
Trait 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Breedings per conception 3,496 3,476 3,215 3,605 3,395 3,244 2,985 2,956 3,055 2,914 2,706
Days from calving to first breeding 3,646 3,617 3,345 3,760 3,539 3,364 3,083 3,065 3,149 3,019 2,822
Days from calving to last breeding 2,334 2,205 2,069 2,368 2,217 2,164 2,026 1,972 2,035 1,847 1,628
Days from first to last breeding 3,496 3,476 3,215 3,605 3,395 3,244 2,985 2,956 3,055 2,914 2,706
Conception rate for first breedings 3,182 3,062 2,954 3,289 3,083 2,974 2,705 2,680 2,745 2,634 2,357
Conception rate for all breedings 9,352 9,101 8,838 9,258 8,562 8,020 7,641 7,438 7,603 7,073 6,426
Calving interval 1,671 1,527 1,617 1,641 1,538 1,442 1,442 1,470 1,485 1,361  




D) HOLSTEIN
 
SAS Output
Trait 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Breedings per conception 1,359,319 1,405,333 1,442,885 1,675,956 1,735,413 1,814,204 1,847,983 1,933,980 1,999,356 2,002,527 1,967,041
Days from calving to first breeding 1,400,524 1,450,004 1,487,488 1,726,498 1,786,408 1,870,251 1,902,794 1,987,869 2,057,884 2,060,221 2,026,471
Days from calving to last breeding 1,028,000 1,068,092 1,100,445 1,281,541 1,323,070 1,388,229 1,417,683 1,488,426 1,542,152 1,554,405 1,511,736
Days from first to last breeding 1,359,319 1,405,333 1,442,885 1,675,956 1,735,413 1,814,204 1,847,983 1,933,980 1,999,356 2,002,527 1,967,041
Conception rate for first breedings 1,275,710 1,341,849 1,392,395 1,618,088 1,689,681 1,765,637 1,805,557 1,881,864 1,942,939 1,940,059 1,883,530
Conception rate for all breedings 3,367,262 3,558,626 3,577,799 4,159,695 4,364,025 4,498,788 4,564,619 4,681,570 4,835,064 4,734,333 4,496,968
Calving interval 728,939 747,601 794,457 892,978 928,412 965,972 996,068 1,038,822 1,077,466 1,068,328  




E) JERSEY
 
SAS Output
Trait 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Breedings per conception 88,847 95,057 104,076 128,100 147,177 156,443 166,933 177,996 174,979 171,487 171,549
Days from calving to first breeding 92,052 98,319 107,129 132,076 151,832 162,270 172,074 183,398 180,781 177,005 177,277
Days from calving to last breeding 70,663 76,536 85,454 106,727 121,770 128,578 136,927 144,341 138,089 134,955 131,834
Days from first to last breeding 88,847 95,057 104,076 128,100 147,177 156,443 166,933 177,996 174,979 171,487 171,549
Conception rate for first breedings 81,016 89,787 98,779 119,866 137,738 144,562 152,298 159,578 145,772 136,216 125,821
Conception rate for all breedings 194,984 221,360 234,984 281,783 322,583 336,208 361,500 390,381 378,451 368,724 374,240
Calving interval 49,293 53,283 58,157 75,622 80,725 86,604 91,713 92,969 85,690 80,826  




F) MILKING SHORTHORN
 
SAS Output
Trait 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Breedings per conception 783 815 696 927 1,006 1,242 1,108 1,119 1,069 1,048 875
Days from calving to first breeding 801 854 720 955 1,056 1,289 1,169 1,195 1,110 1,083 914
Days from calving to last breeding 507 574 475 648 718 878 771 786 727 705 576
Days from first to last breeding 783 815 696 927 1,006 1,242 1,108 1,119 1,069 1,048 875
Conception rate for first breedings 667 725 618 803 860 1,094 983 1,005 928 958 768
Conception rate for all breedings 1,316 1,448 1,325 1,661 1,837 2,107 2,042 1,967 1,954 1,889 1,547
Calving interval 325 307 305 382 495 492 460 470 481 379  




G) RED & WHITE
 
SAS Output
Trait 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Breedings per conception 1,377 1,291 1,166 1,203 1,195 1,134 1,202 1,099 1,149 1,013 905
Days from calving to first breeding 1,405 1,325 1,207 1,254 1,250 1,177 1,238 1,129 1,189 1,037 928
Days from calving to last breeding 980 888 865 911 820 828 857 803 832 746 651
Days from first to last breeding 1,377 1,291 1,166 1,203 1,195 1,134 1,202 1,099 1,149 1,013 905
Conception rate for first breedings 1,246 1,204 1,080 1,144 1,128 1,045 1,134 1,039 1,072 946 845
Conception rate for all breedings 3,298 2,950 2,527 2,734 2,609 2,375 2,537 2,553 2,498 2,253 2,025
Calving interval 685 582 565 578 578 575 563 586 574 485  


Contact: Duane Norman, 301-525-2006, duane.norman@uscdcb.com

We wish to acknowledge the contribution of the dairy producers who supplied data for this report through their participation in the Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) program and the dairy records processing centers (DRPC) that processed and relayed the information on to the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB).