By Andi Anderson
Advancing dairy cow fertility is proving essential for the long-term success of Michigan dairy farms. Through Michigan State University research supported by the Michigan Alliance for Animal Agriculture (M-AAA), new fertility programs are helping farmers improve reproduction, reduce herd turnover, and strengthen profitability.
“I think almost every dairy farmer would agree that nothing is as critical to the success of a dairy farm than the reproductive success of cows on a farm,” said Wendell Van Gunst, owner of Country Dairy in West Michigan.
Reproduction drives milk production because each calving begins a new lactation cycle. While Michigan leads the nation in milk production per cow, high replacement costs place financial pressure on farms. “I'm certain for most farms that most cows are culled out of a herd because of reproductive failures,” Van Gunst said. “Today, a replacement animal is about $4,000, so every time you cull a cow, that's the impact. This means that if you're culling 40% of your herd every year, anything you can do to reduce that down to 34%-35% is just money in your pocket."
MSU Professor J. Richard Pursley has spent decades improving dairy reproduction. In 1995, he co-developed the Ovsynch fertility program, which synchronizes breeding and prevents missed opportunities. Since then, M-AAA funding has helped expand and refine fertility protocols that raised conception rates from under 30% to over 50%, increasing farm profits by approximately $135,000 annually on a 1,000-cow farm.
“Seeing high survival was an exciting way to kick off the start of this multi-year project,” Pursley said.
Associate Professor Adam Janke praised the research impact. “He worked hard to connect with all these farmers and landowners, and it paid off with some fascinating insights into how wildlife, water and people can all benefit from agricultural conservation practices like wetlands.”
Veterinarian Bob Vlietstra emphasized how transformative the data-driven fertility programs have been for farmers. “I can guarantee you that it kept a couple of them in business,” he said.
Current research is now focused on reducing pregnancy loss after conception, a major remaining challenge in dairy reproduction. “Once we figure out what’s causing all these losses to happen, then we can start to figure out how to fix this issue, and that’ll have the biggest impact we’ve seen yet,” Pursley said.
A newly built MSU Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center will further accelerate discoveries. “That’s going to really help us in the summertime because we don’t have to worry about summer heat stress as much, which could impact fertility in our cows,” Pursley said.
According to Michigan farmer Ken Nobis, continued research funding remains essential. “If funding went away, it wouldn’t happen overnight, but MSU wouldn’t continue to be the leader in dairy research that it is today.”
Photo Credit: gettyimages-ahavelaar
Categories: Michigan, Livestock