A series of dairy breeding meetings were held by Progressive Genetics and Aurivo Co-operative Society in Sligo, Roscommon and Mayo last Thursday. At the Mayo meeting, local B&T dairy adviser Peter Comer said that setting and meeting breeding targets will increase herd output.
He highlighted the breeding targets for a spring-calving dairy herd with a tight calving pattern.
He stressed that, post-2015, most farmers will be looking at expansion, but by just correcting the calving pattern, output can increase by up to 30% without increasing numbers.
Peter told farmers that one of the most important things is to know your starting point. He said to look at ICBF reports and consider milk recording as it is the first step in being able to separate top performers from bottom performers. He told farmers that within the first three weeks of breeding, they should be targeting a 90% submission rate for cows that are eligible to be bred.
He said that an empty rate of less than 10% should be targeted. In terms of the calving spread, he said that farmers should target having 50% of cows calved in the first three weeks of the calving season. After six weeks, 75% of the herd should be calved and the following 25% should calve in the second six weeks of the calving season.
Peter said that although these targets may seem very optimistic, the top 10% of dairy farmers in the country are achieving them.
Bull selection
Peter told farmers that when selecting bulls, to aim for over €150 on fertility, +0.1 on protein and fat and to have over 20kg of milk. He advocated using a team of AI sires to obtain a 90% reliability rate across the bulls. Peter said that if you apply these requirements to the active bull list, almost 60% of them will fail to meet the criteria.
In terms of reproductive performance, he explained that nutrition, genetics, and disease all have a large part to play in achieving optimum performance.
He explained that the cow’s BCS (body condition score) at calving is critical to getting her back in calf. He advised farmers to target a BCS of 3.0 to 3.5 at calving and to avoid overfeeding before calving as this can result in calving difficulty along with an increased risk of ketosis and milk fever after calving.
He emphasised that maintaining BCS after calving is crucial to achieving good conception rates.
He showed how studies have shown that cows that lost 0.25 BCS after calving had a conception to first service rate of 67%, while cows that lost 0.25 to 0.5 BCS had a conception rate of 59% to first service.
The startling fact was that cows which lost 0.5 BCS, or more, had a 47% conception rate to first service. To put BCS into context, a drop of 1 BCS is the equivalent of a 50kg drop in liveweight.
Feeding after calving
When choosing a ration, Peter advised farmers not to be overly fixated on protein content. In most cases, energy is limiting, not protein. As for the level of supplementation after calving, he told farmers that cows indoors on silage require 5kg of concentrates per day of milking 20 to 21 litres. Outdoors, at the same yield, requires 4kg per day, while out full-time in spring prior to breeding requires 3kg concentrates depending on grass availability. He said that for a 30-litre cow, the indoor rate needs to be increased depending on silage quality.
When cows are indoors constantly, a protein level of 18% to 20% is required. When out by day, it should be reduced to 16% and at grass full time during the summer it can be dropped to 14% protein. For over quota farmers, he said the protein can be further reduced by 2%.
Mating management
Peter emphasised the importance of heat detection and submission rates as the key to achieving good conception rates.
Monitoring cows in heat plays a vital role, as do records. He said that keeping accurate records is essential. He emphasised the importance of using heat detection aids, such as tail paint and vasectomised bulls.
Table 1 shows the percentage of cows showing signs of heat throughout the day. Peter went on to tell farmers that, at a 90% heat detection rate and a 60% conception rate, 96% of the herd would be in-calf after a 13-week breeding period while, at a 50% detection rate and a 60% conception rate, only 75% of the herd would be in-calf after 13 weeks of breeding.
Seamus Hughes, Progressive Genetics field service manager,the average Irish dairy cow produces 340kg of MS but better fertility can deliver more milk.
He added that although the heritability of fertility is low, it should still be the focus. In terms of bull selection, he advocates focusing on the fertility and production level of the bulls.
Improving the calving spread and interval could see output rise by 30%.Target a cull rate of less than 10% for infertility.Aim to have 50% calved in the first three weeks of the calving season and 75% by week six.Target a BCS of 3.0 at calving and avoid a BCS drop of more than 0.25 prior to breeding.High heat detection and conception rates are crucial to achieving high pregnancy rates.
A series of dairy breeding meetings were held by Progressive Genetics and Aurivo Co-operative Society in Sligo, Roscommon and Mayo last Thursday. At the Mayo meeting, local B&T dairy adviser Peter Comer said that setting and meeting breeding targets will increase herd output.
He highlighted the breeding targets for a spring-calving dairy herd with a tight calving pattern.
He stressed that, post-2015, most farmers will be looking at expansion, but by just correcting the calving pattern, output can increase by up to 30% without increasing numbers.
Peter told farmers that one of the most important things is to know your starting point. He said to look at ICBF reports and consider milk recording as it is the first step in being able to separate top performers from bottom performers. He told farmers that within the first three weeks of breeding, they should be targeting a 90% submission rate for cows that are eligible to be bred.
He said that an empty rate of less than 10% should be targeted. In terms of the calving spread, he said that farmers should target having 50% of cows calved in the first three weeks of the calving season. After six weeks, 75% of the herd should be calved and the following 25% should calve in the second six weeks of the calving season.
Peter said that although these targets may seem very optimistic, the top 10% of dairy farmers in the country are achieving them.
Bull selection
Peter told farmers that when selecting bulls, to aim for over €150 on fertility, +0.1 on protein and fat and to have over 20kg of milk. He advocated using a team of AI sires to obtain a 90% reliability rate across the bulls. Peter said that if you apply these requirements to the active bull list, almost 60% of them will fail to meet the criteria.
In terms of reproductive performance, he explained that nutrition, genetics, and disease all have a large part to play in achieving optimum performance.
He explained that the cow’s BCS (body condition score) at calving is critical to getting her back in calf. He advised farmers to target a BCS of 3.0 to 3.5 at calving and to avoid overfeeding before calving as this can result in calving difficulty along with an increased risk of ketosis and milk fever after calving.
He emphasised that maintaining BCS after calving is crucial to achieving good conception rates.
He showed how studies have shown that cows that lost 0.25 BCS after calving had a conception to first service rate of 67%, while cows that lost 0.25 to 0.5 BCS had a conception rate of 59% to first service.
The startling fact was that cows which lost 0.5 BCS, or more, had a 47% conception rate to first service. To put BCS into context, a drop of 1 BCS is the equivalent of a 50kg drop in liveweight.
Feeding after calving
When choosing a ration, Peter advised farmers not to be overly fixated on protein content. In most cases, energy is limiting, not protein. As for the level of supplementation after calving, he told farmers that cows indoors on silage require 5kg of concentrates per day of milking 20 to 21 litres. Outdoors, at the same yield, requires 4kg per day, while out full-time in spring prior to breeding requires 3kg concentrates depending on grass availability. He said that for a 30-litre cow, the indoor rate needs to be increased depending on silage quality.
When cows are indoors constantly, a protein level of 18% to 20% is required. When out by day, it should be reduced to 16% and at grass full time during the summer it can be dropped to 14% protein. For over quota farmers, he said the protein can be further reduced by 2%.
Mating management
Peter emphasised the importance of heat detection and submission rates as the key to achieving good conception rates.
Monitoring cows in heat plays a vital role, as do records. He said that keeping accurate records is essential. He emphasised the importance of using heat detection aids, such as tail paint and vasectomised bulls.
Table 1 shows the percentage of cows showing signs of heat throughout the day. Peter went on to tell farmers that, at a 90% heat detection rate and a 60% conception rate, 96% of the herd would be in-calf after a 13-week breeding period while, at a 50% detection rate and a 60% conception rate, only 75% of the herd would be in-calf after 13 weeks of breeding.
Seamus Hughes, Progressive Genetics field service manager,the average Irish dairy cow produces 340kg of MS but better fertility can deliver more milk.
He added that although the heritability of fertility is low, it should still be the focus. In terms of bull selection, he advocates focusing on the fertility and production level of the bulls.
Improving the calving spread and interval could see output rise by 30%.Target a cull rate of less than 10% for infertility.Aim to have 50% calved in the first three weeks of the calving season and 75% by week six.Target a BCS of 3.0 at calving and avoid a BCS drop of more than 0.25 prior to breeding.High heat detection and conception rates are crucial to achieving high pregnancy rates. 
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