Sida 1 av 5 How to - point out a reproduction strategy - monitor if it is being followed Søs Ancker, Specialist advisor Knowledge Centre for Agriculture, Cattle department Team Reproduction & Breeding Det Europæiske Fællesskab ved Den Europæiske Fond for Udvikling af Landdistrikter og Ministeriet for Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri har deltaget i finansieringen af projektet. Outline How to point out a reproduction strategy Using SimHerd for different approaches in a model herd How / when an adviser can use SimHerd How to monitor if the strategy is being followed Dynamical surveillance of inseminations and pregnancies On farm implementation Co-workers Using SimHerd for different approaches in a model herd Using SimHerd for different approaches in a model herd Specialist adviser Søs Ancker, VFL, Kvæg Senior scientist Søren Østergaard, Det Jordbrugsvidenskabelige Fakultet, Aarhus Universitet Consultant Jehan Ettema, SimHerd A/S Breeding adviser Torben Nørremark, Viking Denmark and with ideas and comments from DLBR feeding/production advisers from Centrovice, Syddansk Kvæg, Landbo MidtØst, Landbo Limfjord, Hedens og Fjordens, Lemvigegnens Landboforening, LandboThy, AgriNord, LandboNord ReproManagement sund fornuft A tool which improves pregnancy rate in dairy herds Different scenarios concerning herd strategies incorporated in chapter 1 Deciding a strategy is not that complicated Making it work as a guide during a busy everyday life is the difficult part It must be communicated and understood by everyone in the herd from the trainee to the herd manager / owner by all advisers involved in the herd 44 Djurhälso- & Utfodringskonferensen 2012
Sida 2 av 5 Strengthens motivation among employees Strengthens co-operation between advisers Increases contribution margin per cow per year Larger degrees of freedom for management decisions More fun to go to work! During everyday life - practically Increase / unchanged no. of cows During everyday life practically Ins. rate Cow s durability acceptable? (replacement rate) Quality of heifers? (volununtary waiting period / std.) Concep. rate Are cull cows staying longer than planned? Necessary to purchase animals? Old, fat / small, weak? Calving interval Repro. health SimHerd SimHerd is a computer simulation model of a dairy herd From a herd specific basis and actual conditions, the model describes animal production and the farmer s management SimHerd Typical scenarios, which often appear when discussing reproduction in the individual herd Scenarios are analysed by means of SimHerd Results help to support the discussion of different approaches in the herds Find more information on www.simherd.com As an adviser one must evaluate if the conclusion from the model herd also holds good of the specific herd, one is advising in. Djurhälso- & Utfodringskonferensen 2012 45
Sida 3 av 5 Model herd, Danish Holstein Key number Value Herd size, no. of cows ~ 200 Yield per cow per year, kg ECM 10,100 Volun. waiting period, days from calving 49 Pregnancy rate 0.15 Retained placenta, yearly treatments per 10.9 100 cows Metritis, yearly treatments per 100 cows 17.7 Dead calves, pct. 6.4 Investigated by using SimHerd Decreasing / increasing pregnancy rate Prolonged lactation (+ 80 days start and stop ins.) Retained placenta and metritis reduced by 50 % Mortality of live born calves reduced by 50 % Yearly contribution margin per cow, difference to scenario 36-42 (model) Yearly contribution margin per cow is 12,220 dkr. No. of sold heifers Preg. rate 0.09 0.12 0.13 0.18 0.24 Ins. rate concep.rate Year ECM per cow per year, kg How / when to use SimHerd as an adviser Need to organize reproduction work systematically invest in heat detection equipment? Compare now and future scenarios, assuming an increased pregnancy rate Deciding where to put an effort according to different health problems Year Increasing herd size by a no. of cows when would it be necessary to expand in order to keep the heifers 46 Djurhälso- & Utfodringskonferensen 2012
Sida 4 av 5 How / when to use SimHerd as an adviser Results from model herds forms the basis of a discussion in the individual herd A description of model herds, scenarios and results are available on www.vfl.dk/kvaeg/reproduktion Dynamical surveillance of inseminations and pregnancies SimHerd-calculations are offered by several advisers see for example www.simherd.com Co-workers Dynamical surveilance of inseminations and pregnancies Specialist adviser Søs Ancker, VFL, Kvæg Statistician Jørgen Nielsen, VFL, Kvæg Professor Anders R. Kristensen, Institut for Produktionsdyr & Heste, KU-Life Senior scientist Søren Østergaard, Det Jordbrugsvidenskabelige Fakultet, Aarhus Universitet Breeding adviser Torben Nørremark, Viking Denmark and with ideas and comments from DLBR feeding/production advisers from Centrovice, Syddansk Kvæg, Landbo MidtØst, Landbo Limfjord, Hedens og Fjordens, Lemvigegnens Landboforening, LandboThy, AgriNord, LandboNord How to make it work No. of inseminations performed in a specific week and results of pregnancy checks from the Danish Cattle Database No. of expected inseminations calculated by means of no. of possible heats in a specific week and insemination rate in the previous week A statistical model (smoothing and upper / lower limits) Dynamical surveillance of inseminations Dynamical surveillance of insemination rate Obt. Exp. Exp., upp. limit Exp., lower limit Obt. Avg. upper limit Avg. lower limit Average Objective Inseminations and ET, no. Insemination rate Djurhälso- & Utfodringskonferensen 2012 47
Sida 5 av 5 Dynamical surveillance of pregnancy rate Pregnancy rate Obtained Avg. lower limit Obj. Avg. Ins., unkn. status Avg. upper limit Inseminations and ET, unknown status How to make it work Incorporated in an IT-tool ( DMS ) and as a part of Dyreregistrering Tested since 1st of March 2012 on 4 farms (350-700 cows) Expected release of reports from Dyreregistrering during autumn 2012 Thank you for your attention! - Shouldn t we try these afterall now that we have them 48 Djurhälso- & Utfodringskonferensen 2012