When working to maximize fertility in cattle, cows are often the focus. However, bull fertility is a crucial consideration for any beef operation.

Early summer generally provides the highest-quality forage of the production cycle. Producers frequently assume most nutrient requirements are met, yet many nutritional and metabolic details are overlooked.

Early embryonic loss is defined as a loss within the first 42 days of pregnancy and has been reported to impact between 20% and 40% of pregnancies in beef cattle.

Studies show the decrease in fertility can be strongly associated with transition cow health. Utilizing a Double Ovsynch program could increase fertility even in cows with health events during transition.

Young cows in the cow-calf operation are the genetic future of the herd and represent a large economic investment. Unfortunately, young cows leave the herd at a higher rate than other age categories.

Historically, the relative value of traits to the commercial cow-calf sector has been stated as the “10-to-2-to-1 rule of thumb,” where fertility traits are 10 times more important than carcass traits and five times more important than growth traits.

A productive cow isn’t always a profitable cow. A profitable cow performs in milk volume and quality, breeds back quickly and experiences few health events.

In the past 20 years, genetic potential of the cow herd and production costs have steadily increased; however, production outputs (pregnancy rates and weaning weights) have been stagnant or declined.

The evolution of production and reproduction over the last 40 years has greatly influenced how we manage today’s dairy herds.

Assisted reproductive techniques have revolutionized the field of animal breeding, as these techniques allow practitioners and scientists the ability to perpetuate the genetics of superior animals; cryopreserve genetic materials such as embryos, oocytes and sperm; allow shipping and transport of genetic material globally; enable selection and control of the sex ratio; and facilitate cloning and stem cell research.