DPR - An Important Influencer of Reproductive Performanca

Many factors exist that can greatly influence reproductive performance – transition management, cow comfort, reproductive health, semen handling, synchronization protocols, sire fertility . . . the list goes on and on. In fact, research has shown that approximately 96% of producer’s ability to create a pregnancy is attributed to management and environmental factors on the farm. The remaining 4% are genetic contributions from the cow (3% - daughter fertility) and genetic contributions from the bull (1-1.5% - sire fertility).

First and foremost, managers need to focus on the management and environmental factors that influence reproductive performance as simply selecting for DPR would be an exercise in futility. However, based on my recent experience analyzing reproductive records of some of the best managed dairies in the Upper Midwest, I believe the industry hasn’t given DPR the respect it has earned.

When cows are managed in optimum conditions, genetic contributions to production and type traits are more clearly expressed in cow performance. The same is true for the genetic components of fertility. All else being equal in terms of management and environment in these dairies, daughters of high ranking DPR bulls simply excel in reproductive performance. Under optimum conditions, the variation between groups of daughters of individual bulls is more pronounced and leads me to believe that in well-managed dairies, the genetic components of fertility have more influence than we may have previously thought.

Hill Top Dairy in Elkton, South Dakota places considerable emphasis on generating pregnancies and relies on Alta to deliver a genetic package that keeps this goal in mind. Alta’s Large Herd Specialist, Byron Anderson works with Farm Manager Mike Guggisburg and Reproduction Manager Corey Caraway to select bulls that rank high for both sire fertility and daughter fertility. Below is an analysis of daughter fertility at this 1,500 cow dairy that consistently averages a 26-28% pregnancy rate:

Article By: Matt Sattler, Alta Advantage® Consultant

As has been experienced before in the A.I. industry, extreme bulls provide extreme results. Alta is without a doubt the leading supplier of extreme, high ranking DPR bulls. Of the12 active A.I. bulls with 85% reliability for milk and > 2.0 DPR, Alta supplies the market with 5 bulls (a whopping 42% of the market ).

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Posted Jun 26th

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