TRENDING TOPIC ARTICLE: A.I. & BREEDING Originally published: Nov. 19, 2009 Since we began tracking trending topic articles, we’ve been surprised with the number of “older” articles that remain well-read. Case in point is this 2009 article from the Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council (DCRC), which pointed out five areas dairy producers should consider when deciding whether to cull an animal for reproduction: long calving intervals, high somatic cell count, poor reproduction health postpartum, difficult calving and lower fertility. to jump to the article. Because this article has been so popular, we asked DCRC a follow-up question: Q. Which one of the five areas highlighted in the article for producers to consider when culling cattle most influenced dairymen in 2011? I believe the high cull price influenced some dairymen to cull cows that they may have held on to. But ultimately, lack of pregnancy, injury/other and mastitis usually are the three greatest causes for culling. Jeff Stevenson Vice President, Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council Professor, Kansas State University