Fertility
Improved Genetics for Fertility: A Major Success Story in Modern Breeding
Declining fertility rates as a consequence of intense selection for production improvement through the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s created a major negative for the Holstein breed. However, the implementation...
A successful start to lactation: decisive to production and fertility
The time around calving is always tied to a lot of stress and excitement. On hand, it means that there is new life coming to the farm, while on the...
Fertility & Genetics: Become Familiar with the Different Traits that have Produced a Major Success Story
The most important improvement over the past 20 years ensuring the Holstein retains its position as the world’s premier dairy cow has been in the area of her fertility. Credit...
Why Don’t we Have Greater Uniformity Among Fitness Traits Around the World?
Productive Life, Herd Life, Lifespan, Survival – it seems almost every country uses a different name. Who knew there were so many ways to refer to longevity; and that’s just...
Why Production and Fertility can be Found Together more often, and Genetics are Becoming ever More Important!
Since the introduction of the fertility breeding values in the early 2000s, a trend has been recognizable in Holstein breeding that even today is unknown to many dairy farmers: an...
Focus On... January 2022
Hoof problems are still one of the leading reasons as to why cows are involuntarily culled. And as always, digital dermatitis, foot rot, sole ulcers and limax (interdigital hyperplasia) are...
Fertility: Significant Support Available for Indispensable Link
The cow should have been pregnant already, but is still not showing any heat signs. Other cows have already been bred five times, but still show up again every 3,...
Fertility: How is it Evaluated in Different Countries?
Throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s, the global popularity of the Holstein cow continued to climb in line with her improved performance. Heavy selection emphasis on production resulted in impressive...
Bull Fertility - Much Consulted Trait in Sire Selection
Timely pregnancy of heifers and cows is critical to the economics of dairy farms. That is the reason why during the past number of years, fertility has received increased attention...
Given its Low Heritability, is Breeding for Fertility Worth It?
Can fertility be improved through breeding? Or is it simply down to management? Here we investigate the impact you can make by selecting for fertility.