Body condition scoring (BCS) is a relative measurement of the amount of fat tissue that cows store, which is also correlated to their energy reserve. The industry uses a 5-point scale (with quarter-point increments) to determine the body condition of dairy cows. By evaluating BCS changes, we can identify possible nutritional deficiencies, health issues and, by extension, potential impacts on milk production and reproductive performance.

The 2015 Joint Annual Meeting of the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) and the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) took place in Orlando, Florida, in July.

Cud chewing – both the sights and sounds of rumination – is a key monitor of dairy cow health and has been for years. A drop in rumination time signals something is impacting rumen function or animal well-being and puts producers on the alert for possible interventions.

Reproductive efficiency is a major driver of dairy profitability. That’s because improved pregnancy rates allow producers to maximize the number of cows in the most profitable stage of their life cycle, as well as empower producers to make better culling and replacement decisions.

Management of the transition period, strategies to improve reproductive efficiency based on estrous detection programs, and management of dairy personnel were among the hot topics discussed at the 2014 Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council (DCRC) annual meeting held last November in Salt Lake City, Utah.

When we talk about how to evaluate reproductive performance in a dairy herd, numerous terms come up in the discussion. Some of these terms are related to averages, and others are related to rates (or risks).

Researchers and the dairy science community joined together in July in Kansas City, Missouri, for the 2014 Joint Annual Meeting held by the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) and the American Society on Animal Science (ASAS).

Estrus detection has always been one of the most important topics to discuss when implementing an A.I. program in a dairy herd. With the changes physiologically correlated with the modern, high-producing dairy cow, visual observation of estrus has become more challenging. Cows are presenting this behavior during a shorter time interval, with less intensity and with less standing events as milk production increases.