Excellent AI straw used on a very poor cow = poor heifer
Breeding replacements from only the best quality cows is vital on every dairy farm, according to Consultant Cathal McAleer.
Working extensively with dairy farmers, McAleer says there is plenty of heightened interest on breeding extra heifers this year due to the removal of milk quotas.
However, he is advising the farmers he works with to breed replacements only from the best cows and use a short gestation beef bull on poor performers in the herd.
An excellent AI straw used on a very poor cow will produce a poor heifer – there’s only so much the bulls genetics can do.
According to McAleer using a beef straw on these poor performers will eliminate the risk of breeding sub standard stock in the future.
A dairy farm manager himself McAleer coincided that few of dairy farmers are disciplined enough to breed all cows to dairy straws and then select out the poor genetics heifers next spring.
They may be born early and are usually kept.
Breeding
April is the month for dairy farmers to focus on breeding or AI costs in the dairy herd, Teagasc says.
“With average AI/breeding costs of 0.63c/L in 2014 (€32 per cow, 3% of total costs), it is not one of the bigger costs on dairy farms,” it says.
However, there is potential for savings and Teagasc says to start make sure that you select the right team of AI sires for your herd.
