Enhancing maternal recognition of pregnancy in lactating dairy cows to enhance profit on dairy farms
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EmailMSU scientist Richard Pursley and his team developed a greater understanding of why cows lose pregnancies.
Researcher: J. Richard Pursley
Awarded: $180,000
Leveraged: $500,000
Pregnancy losses are disconcerting and costly to dairy producers, especially after a significant expense on semen, fertility drugs and labor has occurred. Cows that lose pregnancies have a much greater chance of either being culled from the herd or becoming pregnant late in lactation. Cows that are delayed in becoming pregnant after 130 days in milk risk having significant health issues, less chances of pregnancy, and greater chances for pregnancy losses in the next lactation.
Richard Pursley, a professor in the MSU Department of Animal Science, is working to help dairy farmers remediate these issues.
These new data show that as many as 80% of cows are pregnant following artificial insemination, but only about 40% remain pregnant. Pursley and his graduate students developed a novel way to determine early pregnancy in cattle that is 100% accurate. This led to a new understanding of the true extent of pregnancy loss in cows.
Pursley’s M-AAA work has already identified strategies that producers can utilize to reduce some of these pregnancy losses. Thus far, this is saving dairy producers about $80,000 per year for a 1,000-cow herd.
