DSD 6.3 | Big Picture Management Decisions Matter

Timeless dairy management decisions, such as voluntary waiting period & days dry, have recently been the topic of interest across the globe. Scrutiny to illuminate the ideal to maximize productive life has left the industry questioning convention.  

Michael Overton, DVM at Zoetis worked with co-author Steve Eicker to tease out the answers to these questions from a a massive dataset of 109,000 cows across 60 herds nationwide. This retrospective, observational research project was recently published in the Journal of Dairy Science titled, “Associations between days open and dry period length versus milk production, replacement, and fertility in the subsequent lactation in Holstein dairy cows”.

All dairymen should pause to determine the unintended consequences of their management decisions on optimal performance and ultimately the economic success of the herd. Listen in to learn ways to apply concepts from this project to your operation.

Topics of discussion

1:33       Introduction of Dr. Overton

2:54       Difference between association vs causation

4:28       Description of data set

4:51        Genomic testing, background

6:31        Advising herds on selection indices DWP$

10:02      Different measurements collected – carry over impact of days dry and days open

11:50      Figure 4: Impact of previous days open and previous days dry on cumulative milk

14:04     Risk of replacement and impact of mastitis

18:05      How many sins is a dairyman willing to forgive?

19:46    What does your data say for optimal VWP

22:27      Twin events or sex of calf

24:59     Figure 7: Risk of pregnancy  

28:46      What do you want Boots on the Ground dairy producers to gain from the project? 



Featured Article:

Associations between days open and dry period length versus milk production, replacement, and fertility in the subsequent lactation in Holstein dairy cows

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