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Reproductive status of cows in Dairy Herd Improvement programs and bred using artificial insemination (2018)

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 for 2008 to present. 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 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, partly attributed to their smaller population sizes.


Table Summaries

TABLE 1. 20181 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 2.2± 0.03 2.1± 0.00 1.9± 0.00 1.7± 0.05 2.0± 0.05
Days from calving to first breeding 93± 0.9 89± 0.4 93± 0.9 80± 0.0 87± 0.1 88± 1.6 80± 1.0
Days from calving to last breeding 124± 1.7 137± 1.1 133± 2.1 114± 0.0 113± 0.2 115± 3.0 113± 2.5
Days from first to last breeding 40± 1.3 61± 0.9 55± 1.7 42± 0.0 33± 0.1 32± 2.3 42± 2.0
Conception rate for first breedings 0.39± .011 0.30± .005 0.31± .011 0.38± .000 0.42± .002 0.41± .020 0.38± .017
Conception rate for all breedings 0.36± .007 0.27± .003 0.27± .006 0.35± .000 0.39± .001 0.40± .014 0.36± .011
Calving interval 411± 2.2 427± 1.3 433± 2.8 396± 0.1 398± 0.3 406± 4.2 400± 3.2

1Cows first bred in 2018 for all traits except calving interval; for calving interval, cows first calving in 2017.
  • 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 80 for Holsteins and Red & Whites; the highest average was 93 for Ayrshires and Guernseys.
  • Days from calving to last breeding were fewest for Jersey, Red & Whites, Holsteins and Milking Shorthorns (113 to 115) and highest for Brown Swiss (137).
  • Days from first to last breeding, the breeding interval varied considerable across breeds; were fewest for Milking Shorthorns (32) and Jerseys (33), and highest for Brown Swiss (61).
  • Conception rate for first breedings was high for Jerseys (42%) and Milking Shorthorns (41%), and lowest for Brown Swiss (30%) and Guernseys (31%).
  • Breeds had similar results for conception rate for all breedings as for first breedings, but generally slightly lower.
  • Calving interval (days) was shortest for Holsteins (396) and Jerseys (398), and longest for Brown Swiss (433) and Guernseys (427).


 
TABLE 2. AVERAGE NUMBERS OF INSEMINATIONS PER CONCEPTION BY BREED AND YEAR OF FIRST BREEDING.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Ayrshire 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.9
Brown Swiss 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4
Guernsey 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.2
Holstein 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.1
Jersey 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.1 1.9
Milking Shorthorn 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.7 1.9 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.7
Red & White 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.0

  • Inseminations per conception (or number of services/conception) usually declined after 2008, by 0.1 to 0.4 in all breeds but Ayrshires.
  • The greatest decline was for Guernseys, Holstains, and Jerseys.

 
TABLE 3. AVERAGE DAYS FROM CALVING TO FIRST BREEDING BY BREED AND BREEDING YEAR.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Ayrshire 93 92 94 95 95 92 91 93 93 90 93
Brown Swiss 92 90 89 89 87 88 89 88 88 87 89
Guernsey 95 88 90 91 92 89 93 92 91 94 93
Holstein 83 81 81 79 78 78 78 78 78 78 80
Jersey 78 76 77 76 75 74 76 79 82 86 87
Milking Shorthorn 94 88 93 99 95 91 92 91 90 92 88
Red & White 86 86 84 85 85 84 85 84 84 81 80

  • Days from calving to first breeding decreased by 2 to 6 days since 2008 in all breeds except Ayrshire which remained the same and Jerseys which increased by 9.
  • 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 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Ayrshire 131 132 133 134 133 127 126 124 127 124 124
Brown Swiss 152 146 147 144 140 143 141 141 141 136 137
Guernsey 149 147 145 144 146 142 144 141 140 141 133
Holstein 136 133 132 130 126 126 124 122 120 117 114
Jersey 121 116 115 113 110 110 111 114 116 119 113
Milking Shorthorn 122 121 123 132 121 123 118 120 120 116 115
Red & White 133 136 129 128 127 126 127 125 124 119 113

  • Days from calving to last breeding decreased by 7 to 22 days for all breeds from 10 years earlier.
  • The Holsteins and Red and Whites showed the largest decreases of 22 and 20 days, respectively.

 
TABLE 5. AVERAGE DAYS FROM FIRST TO LAST BREEDING BY BREED AND YEAR OF FIRST BREEDING.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Ayrshire 42 47 50 47 47 44 43 41 40 41 40
Brown Swiss 73 69 72 69 66 67 66 65 63 61 61
Guernsey 71 73 71 65 65 68 68 64 63 63 55
Holstein 63 62 62 61 58 58 56 55 52 48 42
Jersey 52 48 47 45 43 45 44 43 44 42 33
Milking Shorthorn 37 41 36 38 30 40 33 36 36 31 32
Red & White 56 57 53 48 48 51 50 49 49 48 42

  • Breeding intervals are shorter in 2018 by 2 to 21 days than in 2008 for all breeds.
  • The Holsteins and Jerseys showed the largest decreases with 21 and 19 days, respectively.

 
TABLE 6. AVERAGE CONCEPTION RATES FOR FIRST BREEDINGS BY BREED AND BREEDING YEAR.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Ayrshire 0.39 0.38 0.36 0.37 0.38 0.41 0.41 0.40 0.42 0.39 0.39
Brown Swiss 0.27 0.29 0.29 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.29 0.30 0.31 0.30
Guernsey 0.26 0.25 0.27 0.29 0.29 0.28 0.29 0.30 0.29 0.27 0.31
Holstein 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.33 0.33 0.34 0.34 0.36 0.37 0.38
Jersey 0.39 0.40 0.41 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.42
Milking Shorthorn 0.41 0.38 0.42 0.39 0.43 0.39 0.43 0.39 0.40 0.40 0.41
Red & White 0.33 0.35 0.33 0.35 0.37 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.38

  • Conception to first breeding improved for 5 of 7 breeds in the last decade (by 3 to 6%). Lowest conception rates for Holsteins were from 2008 to 2011 (32%) and the highest was in 2018 (38%).

 
TABLE 7. AVERAGE CONCEPTION RATES FOR ALL BREEDINGS BY BREED AND YEAR OF FIRST BREEDING.
 
SAS Output
Breed 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Ayrshire 0.39 0.37 0.36 0.37 0.36 0.38 0.40 0.39 0.40 0.38 0.36
Brown Swiss 0.26 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.27
Guernsey 0.24 0.24 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.26 0.27
Holstein 0.30 0.31 0.30 0.30 0.31 0.31 0.32 0.32 0.33 0.34 0.35
Jersey 0.35 0.36 0.37 0.37 0.38 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.36 0.36 0.39
Milking Shorthorn 0.40 0.36 0.39 0.38 0.41 0.37 0.40 0.37 0.38 0.38 0.40
Red & White 0.31 0.34 0.34 0.33 0.34 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.34 0.33 0.36

  • The conception rates for all breedings in 2018 were lower (1 to 4%) than those from first breedings in all breeds but yet improved in the last decade for 5 of the 7 breeds (by 1 to 5%)

 
    TABLE 8. AVERAGE CALVING INTERVALS (DAYS) BY BREED AND YEAR OF FIRST CALVING FOR THE INTERVAL.
     
    SAS Output
    Breed 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
    Ayrshire 418 413 418 421 417 410 410 409 410 411
    Brown Swiss 448 440 432 434 430 430 432 430 430 427
    Guernsey 441 435 432 436 432 430 430 432 436 433
    Holstein 417 412 409 408 404 403 401 399 398 396
    Jersey 400 396 393 392 390 388 391 395 395 398
    Milking Shorthorn 412 408 402 420 406 406 407 410 408 406
    Red & White 417 412 416 416 409 408 411 408 408 400

  • The long-term increases in calving interval shown by Nieuwhof et al. (1989) and Hare et al. (2006) has ended and has decreased recently.
    • Length of calving interval for Holsteins has decreased from 417 days in 2008 to 396 days in 2017.
    • Jersey calving intervals decreased from 400 days in 2008 to 388 days in 2013, but increased by 10 days from 2013 to 2017.
    • Brown Swiss calving intervals decreased from 448 days in 2008 to 427 days in 2017.
  • 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 over the last decade provides an opportunity for more genetic improvement in dairy cattle fertility.

A) AYRSHIRE
 
SAS Output
Trait 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Breedings per conception 3,548 3,193 3,706 3,624 3,789 3,480 3,238 3,227 3,062 2,491 2,296
Days from calving to first breeding 3,699 3,306 3,852 3,784 3,931 3,586 3,356 3,349 3,180 2,594 2,388
Days from calving to last breeding 2,613 2,364 2,662 2,667 2,768 2,624 2,479 2,373 2,288 1,803 1,608
Days from first to last breeding 3,548 3,193 3,706 3,624 3,789 3,480 3,238 3,227 3,062 2,491 2,296
Conception rate for first breedings 3,191 2,914 3,382 3,360 3,483 3,206 3,003 2,923 2,806 2,281 2,103
Conception rate for all breedings 7,007 6,110 7,541 7,328 7,649 6,964 6,219 6,151 5,756 4,805 4,599
Calving interval 1,686 1,557 1,861 1,944 1,912 1,725 1,706 1,592 1,357 1,132  




B) BROWN SWISS
 
SAS Output
Trait 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Breedings per conception 9,967 9,617 10,163 10,326 10,110 9,768 9,769 10,272 9,508 9,015 8,112
Days from calving to first breeding 10,335 10,020 10,515 10,716 10,503 10,108 10,090 10,654 9,888 9,354 8,404
Days from calving to last breeding 6,413 6,278 6,771 6,822 6,689 6,579 6,471 6,728 6,280 5,979 5,167
Days from first to last breeding 9,967 9,617 10,163 10,326 10,110 9,768 9,769 10,272 9,508 9,015 8,112
Conception rate for first breedings 9,173 8,980 9,481 9,691 9,480 9,180 9,028 9,560 8,870 8,379 7,511
Conception rate for all breedings 25,333 23,948 24,737 25,258 24,677 23,766 23,899 24,768 23,327 21,631 20,050
Calving interval 4,888 5,033 5,362 5,198 5,137 5,011 5,145 4,970 4,606 4,258  




C) GUERNSEY
 
SAS Output
Trait 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Breedings per conception 3,475 3,214 3,597 3,394 3,235 2,979 2,950 3,050 2,906 2,712 2,299
Days from calving to first breeding 3,616 3,344 3,752 3,538 3,355 3,077 3,059 3,144 3,011 2,822 2,390
Days from calving to last breeding 2,204 2,068 2,361 2,216 2,157 2,021 1,968 2,032 1,843 1,632 1,389
Days from first to last breeding 3,475 3,214 3,597 3,394 3,235 2,979 2,950 3,050 2,906 2,712 2,299
Conception rate for first breedings 3,061 2,953 3,281 3,082 2,966 2,699 2,674 2,740 2,626 2,362 1,928
Conception rate for all breedings 9,099 8,837 9,245 8,560 8,008 7,626 7,421 7,584 7,046 6,464 5,363
Calving interval 1,526 1,617 1,638 1,537 1,441 1,438 1,467 1,484 1,379 1,067  




D) HOLSTEIN
 
SAS Output
Trait 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Breedings per conception 1,405,321 1,443,072 1,676,181 1,735,565 1,814,429 1,848,064 1,934,004 1,999,107 2,001,686 1,965,390 1,809,332
Days from calving to first breeding 1,449,992 1,487,678 1,726,725 1,786,572 1,870,492 1,902,875 1,987,887 2,057,619 2,059,318 2,024,600 1,864,080
Days from calving to last breeding 1,068,087 1,100,625 1,281,805 1,323,280 1,388,474 1,417,808 1,488,534 1,541,930 1,553,624 1,509,709 1,339,000
Days from first to last breeding 1,405,321 1,443,072 1,676,181 1,735,565 1,814,429 1,848,064 1,934,004 1,999,107 2,001,686 1,965,390 1,809,332
Conception rate for first breedings 1,341,836 1,392,583 1,618,460 1,689,935 1,765,980 1,805,687 1,881,980 1,942,878 1,939,463 1,881,853 1,708,661
Conception rate for all breedings 3,558,593 3,578,239 4,160,605 4,364,669 4,499,598 4,565,013 4,681,974 4,835,053 4,733,247 4,494,252 3,904,480
Calving interval 747,696 794,604 893,174 928,635 966,167 996,208 1,038,888 1,077,366 1,068,409 968,283  




E) JERSEY
 
SAS Output
Trait 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Breedings per conception 95,070 104,092 128,112 147,187 156,451 166,956 178,021 174,973 171,516 172,104 142,959
Days from calving to first breeding 98,332 107,144 132,088 151,843 162,278 172,096 183,423 180,778 177,000 177,804 147,776
Days from calving to last breeding 76,548 85,466 106,734 121,781 128,584 136,940 144,343 138,071 135,013 132,610 106,323
Days from first to last breeding 95,070 104,092 128,112 147,187 156,451 166,956 178,021 174,973 171,516 172,104 142,959
Conception rate for first breedings 89,799 98,794 119,876 137,742 144,570 152,314 159,597 145,766 136,252 126,373 105,466
Conception rate for all breedings 221,374 235,013 281,808 322,598 336,239 361,564 390,431 378,440 368,877 376,239 286,035
Calving interval 53,291 58,158 75,623 80,725 86,619 91,724 92,972 85,693 81,150 67,420  




F) MILKING SHORTHORN
 
SAS Output
Trait 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Breedings per conception 815 696 926 1,006 1,241 1,107 1,119 1,067 1,045 858 663
Days from calving to first breeding 854 720 954 1,056 1,288 1,168 1,195 1,108 1,080 897 687
Days from calving to last breeding 574 475 647 718 877 770 786 725 703 561 455
Days from first to last breeding 815 696 926 1,006 1,241 1,107 1,119 1,067 1,045 858 663
Conception rate for first breedings 725 618 802 860 1,093 982 1,005 926 955 750 577
Conception rate for all breedings 1,448 1,325 1,660 1,837 2,106 2,040 1,966 1,951 1,887 1,517 1,187
Calving interval 307 305 382 495 492 460 470 478 373 269  




G) RED & WHITE
 
SAS Output
Trait 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Breedings per conception 1,291 1,166 1,203 1,195 1,134 1,202 1,099 1,149 1,005 909 837
Days from calving to first breeding 1,325 1,207 1,254 1,250 1,177 1,238 1,129 1,189 1,029 932 857
Days from calving to last breeding 888 865 911 820 828 857 803 832 739 654 614
Days from first to last breeding 1,291 1,166 1,203 1,195 1,134 1,202 1,099 1,149 1,005 909 837
Conception rate for first breedings 1,204 1,080 1,144 1,128 1,045 1,134 1,039 1,072 939 849 781
Conception rate for all breedings 2,950 2,527 2,734 2,609 2,375 2,537 2,553 2,498 2,240 2,034 1,764
Calving interval 582 565 578 578 575 563 586 574 485 411  


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).