Source: UNIV OF WISCONSIN submitted to
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO IMPROVING DAIRY COW FERTILITY
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0220977
Grant No.
2010-85122-20612
Cumulative Award Amt.
$1,000,000.00
Proposal No.
2009-05192
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Mar 1, 2010
Project End Date
Feb 28, 2015
Grant Year
2010
Program Code
[92620]- Integrated Solutions for Animal Ag
Recipient Organization
UNIV OF WISCONSIN
21 N PARK ST STE 6401
MADISON,WI 53715-1218
Performing Department
Dairy Science
Non Technical Summary
This is an Extension-Research Integrated project addressing FY 2009 priorities of: (1) Improving Fertility in Agricultural Animals and (2) Preventing and Controlling On-Farm Disease. Our overall objective is to improve the reproductive efficiency of dairy cattle using an interdisciplinary team approach that will identify and remove barriers to reproductive success by linking outcomes of basic and applied research with an innovative producer responsive extension program. Five Specific Aims will address this overall objective: (1) Characterize the contributions of specific management factors to cow fertility, (2) Determine the impact of specific nutritional components on reproductive performance, (3) Quantify the impact of mastitis on fertility and pregnancy loss, (4) Evaluate the economic impact of reproductive management strategies on overall farm sustainability, and (5) Generate measurable improvement in the reproductive performance of dairy herds by developing and implementing an integrated team-based extension program that builds on existing professional relationships with the dairy farm community. The combination of internationally recognized, research-based state specialists, effective county based extension agents, modern dairy research units, numerous and diverse commercial dairy operations, state-of-the-art laboratory and computational resources, and an established track record of effective, collaborative research and outreach activities within a single unit makes Wisconsin uniquely positioned to achieve these objectives. Results from this project will lead to novel approaches to optimize reproductive efficiency and enhance the sustainability of dairy farms through implementation of a novel extension educational program that will be developed in Wisconsin and subsequently transferred throughout the US via collaboration with eXtension.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
50%
Developmental
25%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
3013410102025%
3013410101025%
3013410116025%
3013410209010%
3073410106015%
Knowledge Area
307 - Animal Management Systems; 301 - Reproductive Performance of Animals;

Subject Of Investigation
3410 - Dairy cattle, live animal;

Field Of Science
2090 - Statistics, econometrics, and biometrics; 1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1160 - Pathology; 1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
The body of scientific literature on dairy cattle reproduction clearly supports the idea that fertility of lactating dairy cows has decreased over the past 50 years (Lucy, 2001). Average milk production per cow has steadily increased concomitant with a decline in fertility and reproductive efficiency. An improvement of 5% in the 21 day pregnancy rate could provide an economic benefit of about $75 per cow per year or about $750 million annually to the US dairy industry. Improvements in reproductive efficiency increased gross margin 2.6 to 5.9 times more than improved heifer management, body condition score (BCS), or somatic cell counts but less than improvements in shape of the lactation curve (Kristensen et al., 2008). Poor reproduction in dairy cattle is a multifactorial problem and includes aspects of physiology, genetics, management, health, and nutrition. Many environmental and management factors have profound effects on dairy cattle fertility, independently as well as cumulatively. Such factors may be specific to individual cows or may affect all cows within a particular herd. Thus, realizing measurable change in reproductive performance requires an integrated approach that involves information and expertise across all interrelated disciplines of dairy science. Results from this integrated research and extension proposal will lead to novel approaches to optimize reproductive efficiency in lactating dairy cows, and these approaches will enhance the sustainability of dairy farms through integration into a novel extension educational program that will be developed in Wisconsin and subsequently transferred throughout the US via collaboration with eXtension. The overall objective of this integrated project is to improve the reproductive efficiency of lactating dairy cows using an interdisciplinary extension and research team that will identify and remove barriers to reproductive success and link outcomes of basic and applied research with an innovative extension delivery program. This will be addressed through five Specific Aims: Specific Aim 1: Characterize the contributions of specific management factors to the observed variation between commercial dairy farms in cow fertility. Specific Aim 2: Determine the impact of specific nutritional components on reproductive performance of lactating dairy cows. Specific Aim 3: Identify the impact of mastitis on fertility and pregnancy loss in lactating dairy cows. Specific Aim 4: Evaluate the economic impact of reproductive management strategies on overall farm sustainability under a variety of management scenarios. Specific Aim 5: Generate measurable improvement in the reproductive performance of dairy herds by developing and implementing an integrated team-based extension program that builds on existing professional relationships within the farm community.
Project Methods
The research and extension activities described in this integrated project revolve around the selection and recruitment of a cohort of 200 dairy farms throughout Wisconsin. Once selected, we will collect on-farm data that will allow us to fully characterize various aspects of reproductive management and performance on these farms during the first year of the project. These data will then be used as benchmarks for reproductive performance, as well as a source of data to be analyzed experimentally in Specific Aims 1-4. In addition, these 200 farms will form the basis for our extension Reproductive Management Teams (RMT), which will be formed to improve reproductive performance on these farms as described in Specific Aim 5. We will rely on a selected group of our county-based extension faculty who specialize in dairy to carefully screen and recruit suitable farms in their counties or surrounding areas for participation in the research and extension aims described herein. Our first criterion for selecting collaborating farms will be a minimum herd size of 200 cows. It is important to note that this size criterion does not imply a bias of the project investigators toward large farms. Rather, it reflects the need, due to the binomial nature of most economically-relevant reproduction data, to control random environmental variation and measurement error to ensure adequate statistical power when evaluating management practices and other variables that are measured at the herd level, rather than the individual cow level. At the same time, it will ensure we maximize the number of observations that are available for variables that are measured at the individual cow level, subject to the time and travel constraints of county-based faculty and project personnel. The second criterion for selecting collaborating farms will be use of the DairyCOMP 305 herd management software program (Valley Ag Software, Tulare, CA). This criterion will provide a uniform method for data collection and extraction from each farm, particularly with regard to health and reproductive events of individual cows. In addition, a common software program will facilitate routine, digital transfer of information from collaborating farms to our project database. A preliminary analysis of reproductive data from each farm will be performed to assure that reproductive events are routinely and accurately entered into the DairyComp 305 database. We have established a collaborative arrangement with AgSource Cooperative Services (Verona, WI) to use their I-Loop data collection network for direct digital downloading of data from DairyCOMP 305 and its sister program, Scout, from participating farms directly to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At present, there are approximately 4,500 Wisconsin dairy herds participating in the I-Loop data collection system. In addition, any herd that uses the DairyCOMP 305 herd management software can be added to the I-Loop system; all that is required for us to access on-farm data from our collaborating farms is a letter of agreement from the farm and the digital farm record ID.

Progress 03/01/10 to 02/28/15

Outputs
Target Audience: The target audiences are: 1) Animal and dairy scientists 2) Animal and dairy science graduate students 3) Allied dairy industry companies in the areas of genetics and reproduction 4) Dairy farm consultants in Wisconsin and in the US 5) Dairy farm producers and dairy farm managers in Wisconsin and in the US 6) Cooperative Extension professionals in Wisconsin and the US Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The project has trained: PhD A. Kalantari (to be graduated Spring 2015), PhD S. Shahinfar (graduated Summer 2014), MS student M. Fuenzalida (graduated Fall 2014), PostDoc A. Souza, outreach specialist M. Cordoba. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results were disseminated in many ways: 1) Through scientific papers, abstracts and proceedings, and scientific presentations (please refer to publications). 2) Through decision support tools contained in the University of Wisconsin Dairy Management Website. 3) Through working directly with dairy producers and consultants in the Repro Money Extension program. 4) Through extension programs such as the 3 Wisconsin roadshows during the winters of 2012 and 2013 and fall 2013. 5) Through eXtension DAIRxNET community of practice with webinars and extension papers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Aim 1: Management factors that contributed to cow fertility have been identified and published in a series of peer-reviewed paper. Aim 2: Trial experiments and epidemiological analyses have been completed and published. Those discuss the impact of nutritional components and feeding strategies in reproductive performance in dairy cattle. Aim 3: Clinical and subclinical mastitis episodes have been studied in 2 large herds and results that quantify the impact of mastitis incidence and severity on reproductive traits have been recently published. Aim4: More than 6 peer reviewed papers and more than 20 proceedings and scientific presentations have analyzed the economic value of reproductive programs in dairy cattle. These have been performed in conjunction with previous objectives and have been heavily used in the extension component of the project (aim 5). Aim 5: The Repro Money Extension Program has officially ended in November 2014. During the period 2010 and 2014, 44 farm teams have successfully completed the program. A paper documenting the impacts (improvement in reproductive efficiency and economic gains) is being prepared. As part of the Repro Money Program, 3 roadshows were planned and executed in the period 2012 and 2013, where knowledge gained in the project was delivered to dairy farmers, extension agents, and dairy farm allied industry in 22 locations. Also, information gained in the project was published as papers and webinars in eXtension DAIRxNET community of practice for national audiences.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Souza, A. H., P. D. Carvalho, A. R. Dresch, L. M. Vieira, K. S. Hackbart, R. D. Shaver, and M. C. Wiltbank. 2014. Relationship between dry-matter intake and subclinical endometritis in healthy postpartum dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 97(E-Suppl. 1): (Abstr.)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Ferraretto, L., H. Gencoglu, K. Hackbart, A. Nascimento, F. Dalla Costa, R. Bender, J. Guenther, R. Shaver, and M. Wiltbank. 2014. Effect of Feed Restriction on Reproductive and Metabolic Hormones in Dairy Cows. J. Dairy Sci. 97:754-763.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Shaver, R.D., and M.C. Wiltbank. 2015. Potential benefits of nutrition on reproductive performance of high-efficiency dairy cows. Invited paper. FASS-ADSA/ASAS Annual Mtgs. Orlando, FL.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Souza, A. H., P. D. Carvalho, C. M. Drake, R. D. Shaver, and M. C. Wiltbank. 2014. Ration composition in Wisconsin dairy herds: Factors affecting fertility. J. Dairy Sci. 97(E-Suppl. 1): (Abstr.)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Luchini, D., M. Wiltbank, R. Shaver and P. Cardoso. 2014. The effects of transition cow nutrition on subsequent reproduction. Proc. Pacific NW Anim. Nutr. Conf. Vancouver, BC, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Wiltbank, M.C., R.D. Shaver, M.Z. Toledo, P.D. Carvalho, G.M. Baez, T.H. Follendorf, N.E. Lobos, D. Luchini, and A.H. Souza. 2014. Potential benefits of feeding limiting amino acids (methionine) on reproductive efficiency of lactating dairy cows. Proc. Four-State Dairy Nutrient & Management. Conference. Dubuque, IA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Shaver, R.D., and M.C. Wiltbank. 2014. The impact of nutrition on reproductive performance. UW-Madison Dept. of Dairy Sci. Showcase. Madison, WI.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Cabrera,V. E. 2014. Economic evaluation of reproductive programs. UW-Madison Dept. of Dairy Sci. Showcase. Madison, WI.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Shahinfar, S., J. Guenther, C. D. Page, A. Kalantari, V. Cabrera, P. Fricke, and K. Weigel. 2015. Optimization of dairy herd reproductive programs using lift chart analysis and cost-sensitive evaluation of classification errors. J. Dairy Sci. (in press).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Shahinfar, S., K. Weigel, D. Page, J. Guenther, V. Cabrera, and P. Fricke. 2012. Prediction of pregnancy outcome using machine learning algorithms. J. Dairy Sci. 95(Suppl. 2):45.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Ruegg, P.L., P. Fricke, M.J. Fuenzalida. 2015. Impact of Mastitis on reproductive performance. Proc. XIX Curso, Novos enfoques na producao e reproducao de bovines. March 19-20, Uberlandia, MG, Brazil.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Kalantari, A. S., V. E. Cabrera. In press. Stochastic economic evaluation of dairy farm reproductive performance. Canadian Journal of Animal Science.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Fricke, P. 2014. The impact of mastitis on fertility and pregnancy loss. UW-Madison Dept. of Dairy Sci. Showcase. Madison, WI.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Cordoba, M., P. M. Fricke, Shaver, R. D., P. L. Ruegg, K. A. Weigel, K, and V. E. Cabrera. 2014. The Repro Money extension program. UW-Madison Dept. of Dairy Sci. Showcase. Madison, WI.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Kalantari, A. S., V. E. Cabrera, D. Solis. 2015. A comparison analysis of two alternative dairy cattle replacement strategies: Optimization versus simulation models. Revista Econom�a Agraria ISSN 0718-9141. 18:12-24.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Cabrera, V. E. 2014. Economics of fertility in high-yielding dairy cows on confined TMR systems. Animal 8:211-221.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Cabrera, V. E. 2014. Economics of fertility in high-yielding dairy cows on confined TMR systems. In Proceedings. International Cow Fertility Conference, New Science  New Practices. Westport, Mayo, Ireland. 18-21 May 2014.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Shahinfar, S. 2014. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. Phenotypic and genome-enabled prediction of reproductive performance in dairy cattle using machine learning algorithms.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Bender, R.W., K.S. Hackbart, A.R. Dresch, P.D. Carvalho, L.M. Vieira, P.M. Crump, J.N. Guenther, P.M. Fricke, R.D. Shaver, D.K. Combs, and M.C. Wiltbank. 2014. Effects of acute feed restriction combined with targeted use of increasing LH content of FSH preparations on superovulation and embryo quality in lactating dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 97:764-778.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Souza, A.H., P.D. Carvalho, A. Rozner, L.M. Viera, K.S. Hackbart, R.W. Bender, A.R. Dresch, J. Verstegen, R.D. Shaver, and M.C. Wiltbank. 2015. Relationship between circulating Anti-M�llerian Hormone (AMH) and superovulatory response of high producing dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 98:169-178.


Progress 02/28/13 to 02/27/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? During the reporting period, the projected has supported 3 Ph.D. students, 1 postdoc, and 1 outreach specialist. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? During 2013, two large "Road Shows" in Wiscosin were planned, organized and delivered. Each road show consisted of a series of talks (4 or 5) in a number of locations in rural Wisconsin. Each talk was referred to our project findings. With the help of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension and the support of private enterprises, we were able to reach 22 locations (22 counties) in January 2013 adding more than 550 participants and later to reach other 8 locations with more than 180 in November 2013. Road shows evaluations were highly positive indicating that 75% of the attendees learned a lot during these sessions. Additionally, two PIs of the project performed national webinars within our sub-agreement with eXtension DAIRxNET community of practice. Each seminar was recorded for future viewing and to date tehse had served as reference to thousands of viewers. Each seminar is associated with associated peer-reviewed papers as additional reference. Our signature Repro Money extension program has continued to have a large impact in Wisocnsin with more farms (cows) being enrolled and more farms finishing the program. Preliminar impact results had been shared at the National Dairy Science meeting. All farms participating had indicated a highly positive impact from the program. We have been approached by sientists in other parts of the country, and internationally, to share our repro money (extension program) expertise with borader communities. Specifically, Cooperative Extension in California will soon be starting a similar Repro Money program and also the University Earth in Costa Rica is exploring a similar posibility. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In objectives 1, 2, and 4 we plan to finish up our analyses as all data has already been collecte. We will then report those results to the scientific community. Within objective 5, Repro Money extension program, although we are still enrolling farms, we are organizing data of farms that had already finished the program and use them to report impacts (pre and post analyses) in a peer-reviewed paper. Objective 3 will be finishing data collection, analyses, and publications during the following year.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Project team has been very active on finishing up data analyses and reporting results to the scientific community and practitioners. On December 13, 2013, the whole project team, including students and postocs (~15 people), had a one-day retreat to share results, foster additional collaboration, and plan future scientific endeavors based on our current findings. Importantly, we verified that we are accomplishing our overall goals of improve reproductive efficiency of lactating dairy cattle, which was evidenced by a large number of scientific publications, presentations, eXtension talks and publicaitons, local workshops, and importantly, by a number of specific case studies of farms closely followed by our extension aim: Repro Money.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Shahinfar, S. D. Page, J. Guenther, V. E. Cabrera, P. Fricke, and K. Weigel. 2014. Prediction of insemination outcomes in Holstein dairy cattle using alternative machine learning algorithms. Journal of Dairy Science 97:1-12.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Giordano, J. O., P. M. Fricke, and V. E. Cabrera. 2013. Economics of resynchronization strategies including chemical tests to identify non-pregnant cows. Journal of Dairy Science 96:949-961.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Shahinfar, S., H. Mehrabani-Yeganeh, C. Lucas, A. Kalhor, M. Kazemian, and K. A. Weigel. 2012. Prediction of breeding values for dairy cattle using artificial neural networks and neuro-fuzzy systems. Comput. Math. Meth. Med. 2012:127130.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: L. F. Ferraretto,* H. Gencoglu, K. S. Hackbart,* A. B. Nascimento, F. Dalla Costa, R. W. Bender , J. N. Guenther ,* R. D. Shaver , and M. C. Wiltbank. 2014. Effect of feed restriction on reproductive and metabolic hormones in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 97:754-763
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kalantari, A., and V. E. Cabrera. 2013. Stochastic economic evaluation of dairy farms reproductive performance. Journal of Animal Science 91 (E-Suppl. 2):791.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Shahinfar, S., A. S. Kalantari, V. E. Cabrera, and K. A. Weigel. 2013. Retention payoff prediction using machine learning algorithms. Journal of Animal Science 91 (ESuppl. 2):709.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Kalantari, A., and V. E. Cabrera. 2013. Agreement of dairy cattle replacement policies by two models: Optimization and simulation. Journal of Animal Science 91 (E-Suppl. 2):TH380.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Cabrera, V. E., P. M. Fricke, P. L. Ruegg, R. D. Shaver, M. C. Wiltbank, K. A. Weigel, and M. Cordoba. 2013. An integrated approach to improve dairy cow fertility. Pp. 48-51 in Proceedings USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Animal Reproduction Project Director Meeting. Montreal, QC. 26 July 2013.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Souza, A. H., P. A. Carvalho, R. D. Shaver, M. C. Wiltbank, and V. E. Cabrera. 2013. Epidemiology of synchronization programs for breeding management in US dairy herds. Journal of Animal Science 91 (E-Suppl. 2):W182.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Souza, A. H., P. A. Carvalho, R. D. Shaver, M. C. Wiltbank, and V. E. Cabrera. 2013. Impact of timed AI use on reproductive performance and culling rate in Wisconsin dairy herds. Journal of Animal Science 91 (E-Suppl. 2):W303.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Cabrera, V. E., and J. O. Giordano. 2013. Evaluating the economic value of changing the reproductive management program for a specific dairy farm. DAIReXNET eXtension, 23 October 2013 (http://www.extension.org/pages/69997/evaluating-the-economic-value-ofchanging-the-reproductive-management-program-for-a-specific-dairy-fa#.UmmOIRZomRh).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Cordoba, M. C., P. M. Fricke, P. L. Ruegg, R. D. Shaver, K. A. Weigel, and V. E. Cabrera. 2013. An update on the Repro Money Program: A farmer-directed team-based extension program to improve reproductive performance in Wisconsin dairy herds. Journal of Animal Science 91 (E-Suppl. 2):TH198.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Shahinfar, S, A. Kalantari, V. E. Cabrera, K. Weigel. 2014. Short communication: Prediction of retention pay-off using a Machine Learning algorithm. Journal of Dairy Science 97:2949-2952.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: R. W. Bender , K. S. Hackbart, A. R. Dresch, P. D. Carvalho, L. M. Vieira , P. M. Crump, J. N. Guenther , P. M. Fricke, R. D. Shaver , D. K. Combs, and M. C. Wiltbank. 2014. Effects of acute feed restriction combined with targeted use of increasing luteinizing hormone content of follicle-stimulating hormone preparations on ovarian superstimulation, fertilization, and embryo quality in lactating dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 97:764-778.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Bender, R. W., K. S. Hackbart, A. R. Dresch, P. D. Carvalho, L. M. Vieira, P. M. Crump, J. N. Guenther, R. D. Shaver, D. K. Combs, and M. C. Wiltbank. 2013. Effects of acute feed restriction combined with targeted use of increasing LH in FSH preparations on superovulation and embryo quality in lactating dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 96(E-Suppl. 1): 185 (Abstr.).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Wiltbank MC, Shaver RD, Nutrition and Reproduction: A Role for Methionine? Adisseo Reception at the ADSA meetings in Indianapolis, July 9, 2013.


Progress 03/01/12 to 02/27/13

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Obj. 1. A random forest algorithm was able to correctly classify 72.3% (73.6%) of insemination events in primiparous (multiparous) Holstein cows as success or failures. Herd average conception rate, incidence of ketosis, number of previous failed inseminations, days in milk at breeding, and incidence of mastitis were the most informative explanatory variables for predicting insemination outcome. Furthermore, we showed that a lift analysis using differential costs and benefits for true positive, false positive, true negative, and false negative predictions can be used to effectively identify subsets of eligible cows that have high probability of conception, and these cows can be targeted for insemination with expensive gender-enhanced and/or high genetic merit semen. Obj. 2. Supplemental dietary methionine in rumen-protected form increased milk protein content and yield and reduced ketones in early lactation cows, but did not resulted in improvements in 7-d embryo production or quality. Fat-protein-ratio score was related to conception rate at first AI. Cows deviating from fat-protein-ratio of 1.0-1.4 for less than 2 out of the 5 initial milk tests had greater fertility. The degree of the negative energy balance measured by non-esterified free fatty acids concentrations at the third week postpartum and body weight loss between calving to 3rd or 10th week postpartum impaired embryo quality. Obj. 3. Data collection from 2 farms has already been completed, in which a total of 1,486 cows were enrolled. The UW herd is being sampled with 541 cows enrolled. And collection in the last farm has recently started with 14 cows enrolled so far. A total of 2,041 cows have been enrolled out of the 2,700 cows needed according to the protocol. Observed pregnancy losses are being studied in light of progesterone and pregnancy specific protein B. Obj. 4 Simulation and optimization studies on the economics of reproductive programs together with the development of decision support tools and update of current ones continued during 2012/2013. A revamped tool called UW-DairyRepro$Plus features the possibility to economically evaluate the potential introduction of heat detection devices. Also, the tool called "economic value of a dairy cow" was heavily validated and updated during the last year period. All tools are available at the University of Wisconsin Dairy Management Website: DairyMGT.info: Tools. Obj. 5. To date, 34 farms have either completed or are running the Repro Money program. A case study of a farm that completed the program including the improved reproductive efficiency and economic gains after adopting the Repro Money program was featured in a poster at a national meeting and at the national Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council meeting. In coordination with County Extension Agents and with the support of allied industry we delivered for second year the "Repro Money Road Show" that included 20 workshops (20 Wisconsin counties) during the period January-March 2013 across all Wisconsin with the intention to report in project results to date and to promote even more this program. Each workshop had an average attendance of 22 people. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals and main role/expertise: Victor E. Cabrera (PI/PD): Economic assessment of value of reproductive management in dairy cattle. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Paul Fricke (PI/PD): Reproductive physiology linked to mastitis occurrence. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Pamela Ruegg (PI/PD): Mastitis physiology linked to reproductive efficiency. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Randy Shaver (PI/PD): Nutrition physiology linked to reproductive efficiency. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Kent Weigel (PI/PD): Machine learning and Bayesian networks to explain management practices in reproductive efficiency. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Milo Wiltbank (PI/PD): Reproductive physiology linked to nutrition and diets. Maria Cordoba (Outreach Specialist): Repro Money extension program Carol Hulland (Mastitis Lab Manger): Mastitis lab tests Partner organizations: UW-Cooperative Extension and County extension offices: Disseminate and facilitate Repro Money extension program. Linkage between project and target public. Facilitation of Repro Money program: Pharmaceutical companies Artificial insemination and genetic companies A number of veterinarian practices Other farm consultant companies such as feed nutrition companies. Collaborators and contacts: Julio Giordano (UW-Dairy Science Postdoctoral Fellow): Development and dissemination of reproductive economic decision support tools. Training or professional development: Alexandre Souza (Postdoctoral Fellow): Study nutrition and reproduction efficiency Saleh Shahinfar (PhD Student): Study management practices impacts on reproductive efficiency. Maria Jose Valenzuela (PhD Student): Study impact of mastitis on reproductive efficiency Afshin Kalantari (PhD Student): Study the economic value of reproductive programs. TARGET AUDIENCES: This project targets dairy farmers as the main group to serve. These farmers are participating in the Repro Money program and befitting from the team-based program to improve reproductive performance. Multiplier groups are also included as target public. These are also receiving training and are exposed to the project. These multiplier groups are county extension agents, progressive dairy farmers, veterinarians, nutritionists, other dairy farm consultants, allied industry personnel, faculty and scientists, etc. In addition to the project's original objectives, we are also delivering the "Repro Money Road Show" that was executed in 2012 (January-February) and once again in 2013 (January-March) (please see outputs section). These series of workshops around the state are reaching a larger target public of dairy producers and dairy farm consultants that perhaps otherwise would not have the opportunity to take advantage of the latest developments. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Project's Repro Money overarching extension program is and will be the main aim to change knowledge, actions, and conditions in dairy farm reproductive efficiency not only in participating farms, but also in farms exposed to the program through several other outlets in Wisconsin and elsewhere. The project team is highly confident results of research and extension objectives will lead to measurable improved dairy farm reproductive performance. Results of a selected group of farms that have completed the Repro Money program is going to be featured in a presentation in the national Animal and Dairy Science Association meeting. Data from all farms that enrolled and finished the program (n=13) between fall 2010 and summer of 2012 were included in this analysis. These farms had an average herd size of 385 cows (range of 67 to 850) and average milk production rolling herd average of 12,524 kg/cow per yr (range 9,693 to 14,528). Data were analyzed before and after participating in the Repro Money program to evaluate the program's impact on enhancing reproductive performance and herd profitability. After finishing the program, herds' number of days in milk decreased 6 d (0 to 43), insemination risk increased 3% (53% to 56%), conception risk increased 3% (38% to 41%), and the 21-day pregnancy rate increased 3% (19 to 22%). These improvements were estimated to yield an average economic gain of $55/cow per yr with a total economic gain of $177,185/yr for these 13 participating farms. This amount is expected to increase even more due to further reproductive enhancements that are still to be realized because of management changes implemented during their participation in the Repro Money Program and because of additional improvements to be implemented using the program principles. A 70% of farms decided to continue their "Repro Money" programs even after formally finishing it. All 13 farms were highly satisfied with the outcomes and 85% of farms achieved the goals set, which included increasing the 21-day pregnancy rate, increase conception risk, and lower days to first artificial insemination. The 3 most important management changes that resulted from participating in the Repro Money Program were to perform better record keeping, focus on transition cow management, and improve breeding protocols.

Publications

  • Cabrera, V. E. 2012. A simple formulation and solution to the replacement problem: A practical tool to assess the economic cow value, the value of a new pregnancy, and the cost of a pregnancy loss. Journal of Dairy Science 95:4683-4698.
  • Cabrera, V. E. 2012. DairyMGT: A suite of decision support systems in dairy farm management. IN Decision Support Systems. Jao C. (Ed.), INTECH, Rijeka, Croatia.
  • Cabrera, V. E., P. M. Fricke, P. L. Ruegg, R. D. Shaver, M. C. Wiltbank, K. A. Weigel, and M. Cordoba. 2012. An integrated approach to improve dairy cow fertility. Pp. 71-76 in Proceedings USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Animal Reproduction Project Director Meeting. State College, PA. 16 August 2012.
  • Carvalho, P. D., A. H. Souza, A. R. Dresch, L. M. Vieira, K. S. Hackbart,R. W. Bender, J. N. Guenther, D. Luchini, S. Bertics, N. Betzold, R. D. Shaver, and M. C. Wiltbank. 2012. Effect of postpartum body weight change and circulating NEFAs on embryo production in superovulated high producing dairy cows. 28th AETE Conference, Saint Malo, France.
  • Cordoba, M. C., P. M. Fricke, P. L. Ruegg, R. D. Shaver, K. A Weigel, and V. E. Cabrera. 2012. Repro Money: A farmer directed team-based extension program to improve reproductive performance in Wisconsin dairy herds. Journal of Animal Science 90 (E-Suppl. 3):T81.
  • Cordoba, M. C., P. M. Fricke, P. L. Ruegg, R. D. Shaver, K. A Weigel, and V. E. Cabrera. 2012. Repro Money: A farmer directed team-based extension program to improve reproductive performance in Wisconsin dairy herds. 2012 Agricultural and Natural Resources Conference from UW-Extension. Wisconsin Dells. 10-12 October 2012.
  • Dresch, A. R., A. H. Souza, P. D .Carvalho, L. M. Vieira, J. L. M. Vasconcelos, R. A. Cerri, M. C. Wiltbank, and R. D. Shaver. 2012. Is colostrum quality in dairy cows related to postpartum health, production, or fertility J. Dairy Sci. 95(E-Suppl. 1): (Abstr.).
  • Giordano, J. O., P. M. Fricke, and V. E. Cabrera. 2013. Economics of resynchronization strategies including chemical tests to identify non-pregnant cows. Journal of Dairy Science 96:949-961.
  • Giordano, J. O., A. Kalantari, P. M. Fricke, M. C. Wiltbank, and V. E. Cabrera. 2012. A daily herd Markov-chain model to study the reproductive and economic impact of reproductive programs combining timed artificial insemination and estrous detection. Journal of Dairy Science 95:5442-5460.
  • Kalantari, A. S., and V. E. Cabrera. 2012. The effect of reproductive performance on the dairy cattle herd value assessed by integrating a daily dynamic programming with a daily Markov chain model. Journal of Dairy Science 95:6160-6170.
  • Kalantari, A. S., and V. E. Cabrera. 2012. The effect of reproductive performance on the herd value assessed by integrating a daily dynamic programming with a daily Markov chain model. Journal of Animal Science 90 (E-Suppl. 3):530.
  • Shahinfar, S., K. Weigel, D. Page, J. Guenther, V. E. Cabrera, and P. Fricke. 2012. Prediction of pregnancy outcome using machine learning algorithms. Journal of Animal Science 90 (Suppl. 3):M113.
  • Shahinfar, S., H. Mehrabani-Yeganeh, C. Lucas, A. Kalhor, A. Kazemian, and K. A. Weigel. 2012. Prediction of milk and fat production and estimation of breeding values using neuro-fuzzy and artificial neural networks. Journal of Dairy Science 95(Suppl. 2):269.
  • Souza, A. H., A. Rozner, P. D. Carvalho, A. R. Dresch, L. M. Vieira, K. S. Hackbart, R. W. Bender, D. Luchini, S. Bertics, N. Betzold, R. D. Shaver, M. C. Wiltbank, and J. Verstegen. 2012. Relationship between circulating AMH (anti-mullerian hormone) and embryo production in superovulated high producing donor cows. 28th AETE Conference, Saint Malo, France.
  • Souza, A. H., P. D. Carvalho, A. R. Dresch, L. M. Vieira, K. S. Hackbart, D. Luchini, S. Bertics, N. Betzold, M. C. Wiltbank, and R. D. Shaver. 2012. Effect of dietary methionine supplementation in early lactation dairy cows I: Dry matter intake, milk yield, milk composition and component yields. J. Dairy Sci. 95(E-Suppl. 1): (Abstr.).
  • Souza, A. H., P. D. Carvalho, A. R. Dresch, L. M. Vieira, K. S. Hackbart, D. Luchini, S. Bertics, N. Betzold, M. C. Wiltbank, and R. D. Shaver. 2012. Effect of methionine supplementation during postpartum period in dairy cows II: embryo quality. J. Dairy Sci. 95(E-Suppl. 1): (Abstr.).
  • Souza, A. H., L. F. Ferraretto, P. D. Carvalho, A. R. Dresch, L. M. Vieira, R. A. Cerri, M. C. Wiltbank, and R. D. Shaver. 2012. Milk fat:protein ratio in lactating dairy cows: Effects on conception at 1st postpartum AI. J. Dairy Sci. 95(E-Suppl. 1): (Abstr.).
  • Souza A. H., P. D. Carvalho, A. R. Dresch, L. M. Vieira, K. S. Hackbart, D. Luchini, S. Bertics, N. Betzold, M. C. Wiltbank, and R. D. Shaver. 2012. Placement of semen in uterine horns failed to improve fertilization rates in superovulated Holstein cows. J. Dairy Sci. 95(E-Suppl. 1): (Abstr.).
  • Aguerre, M., Giordano, J. O., Kalantari, A. S., M. Wattiaux, Fricke, P. M., and V. E. Cabrera. 2012. Impact of dairy herd reproductive performance simulated with a Markov-chain model on predicted enteric methane emission and excretion of N and P. Journal of Animal Science 90 (E-Suppl. 3):M240.


Progress 03/01/11 to 02/28/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Machine-learning algorithms were used on 26 dairy farms in the Alta Genetics Advantage Progeny Testing Program (2000-2010). The "bagging with RepTree algorithms" were applied finding a best performance of 0.697 area under the ROC curve with a 0.665 precision. The effect of methionine supplementation on 7 day embryo quality was studied on 72 Holstein cows indicating no detectable improvements on embryo quality after supplementation. The placement of semen in superovulated cows studied in 28 primiparous and 44 multiparous Holstein showed that depositing the sperm in uterine horns failed to improve fertilization rates. Two experiments indicated that colostrum quality was associated with some important production and health parameters, whereas fertility was independent of colostrum quality. The ratio of milk fat:protein indicated that cows presenting 4 or more milk tests with a range of 1 to 1.4 of milk fat:protein ration seemed to have improved fertility. An experiment found that one unit increase in logSCC was associated with 2.7 kg/d reduction in milk production and treatment was not associated with SCC reduction or change in milk yield. A suite of methods has continuously been used to estimate the net return of reproductive programs. Project's decision support tools are available online at DairyMGT.info: Tools: Reproduction with names "UW-DairyRepro$" and Dairy Reproductive Economic Analysis." A related decision support system that assesses the cow value and the net return of a cow in a herd, including the value of reproductive performance is also available at DairyMGT.info: Tools: Replacement with name "Economic Value of a Dairy Cow." Each decision support system has documentation associated and a video demonstration. These and related tools have been heavily used in conjunction with the Extension component of the project (Repro Money, Obj. 5). To date, 15 farms have successfully completed the Repro Money program. A 5 minute video documents the impact this program had in one of the participating farms (http://dairymgt.info/repro/repromoney.php). In coordination with County Extension Agents and with the support of allied industry, we delivered 11 workshops (11 counties) during January and February 2012 across all Wisconsin with the intention to promote this program even more. Each workshop had an average attendance of 25 people. The topics delivered were: The economic value of improving reproductive efficiency (V.E. Cabrera); Update on reproductive research at UW Madison (P.M. Fricke); Mastitis is not only about milk (P.L. Ruegg); The Repro Money Program and how it can help you increase your economic returns (C. Cordoba). Coverage of part of these workshops by local TV is available at http://wearegreenbay.com/fulltextnxd_id=108632 and http://wearegreenbay.com/fulltext/nxd_id=108992. Other presentations about the Repro Money were given at the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Annual Meeting, Several meeting with County Extension faculty, Marshfield Veterinary Clinic, Genex regional meeting in Menomonie, and CP Feeds in Valders. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals and main role/expertise: Victor E. Cabrera (PI/PD): Economic assessment of value of reproductive management in dairy cattle. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Paul Fricke (PI/PD): Reproductive physiology linked to mastitis occurrence. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Pamela Ruegg (PI/PD): Mastitis physiology linked to reproductive efficiency. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Randy Shaver (PI/PD): Nutrition physiology linked to reproductive efficiency. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Kent Weigel (PI/PD): Machine learning and Bayesian networks to explain management practices in reproductive efficiency. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Milo Wiltbank (PI/PD): Reproductive physiology linked to nutrition and diets. Maria Cordoba (Outreach Specialist): Repro Money extension program Carol Hulland (Mastitis Lab Manger): Mastitis lab tests Partner organizations: UW-Cooperative Extension and County extension offices: Disseminate and facilitate Repro Money extension program. Linkage between project and target public. Feed companies: Facilitation of Repro Money program and provide diet information of participating farms Facilitation of Repro Money program: Pharmaceutical companies Artificial insemination and genetic companies. A number of veterinarian practices. Other farm consultant companies such as feed nutrition companies. Collaborators and contacts: Julio Giordano (UW-Dairy Science Postdoctoral Fellow): Development and dissemination of reproductive economic decision support tools. Training or professional development: Alexandre Souza (Postdoctoral Fellow): Study nutrition and reproduction efficiency Saleh Shahinfar (PhD Student): Study management practices impacts on reproductive efficiency. Maria Jose Valenzuela (PhD Student): Study impact of mastitis on reproductive efficiency Afshin Kalantari (PhD Student): Study the economic value of reproductive programs. TARGET AUDIENCES: This project targets dairy farmers as the main group to serve. These farmers are participating in the Repro Money program and benefiting from the team-based program to improve reproductive performance. Multiplier groups are also included as target public. These are also receiving training and are exposed to the project. These multiplier groups are county extension agents, progressive dairy farmers, veterinarians, nutritionists, other dairy farm consultants, allied industry personnel, faculty and scientists, etc. The project is currently undergoing and additional extension outreach activities are planned when more research results are available. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Project's Repro Money overarching extension program is and will be the main aim to change knowledge, actions, and conditions in dairy farm reproductive efficiency not only in participating farms, but also in farms exposed to the program through several other outlets in Wisconsin and elsewhere. The project team is highly confident results of research and extension objectives will lead to measurable improved dairy farm reproductive performance. As an example, the 4 pioneer farmers who completed their participation in Repro Money have had measureable results because of their participation. Some reported changes on a participating farm include for example: improving transition cows health for better reproductive performance; increasing pregnancy rate 6 percentage points resulting in an estimated $39,000 additional profit per year; improving additional heifers marketing; and a continuous commitment towards team work also in other areas of management for the own farm's benefit. Project is having an impact of awareness and change on attitude towards improved reproductive efficiency because a large number of target audiences (or multipliers -people in direct contact with target audiences) have been exposed to any or several components of the project, especially to the Repro Money program and its related evaluation of reproductive efficiency economic impacts. In the last year, both Repro Money and reproductive economic evaluation have been formally presented in at least 10 extension meetings reaching to more than 150 target public. In addition, the Repro Money Road Show in January/February 2012 exposed a target public of more than 275 farmers and extension agents to topics related to reproduction and mastitis, economics, and the latest technologies in reproductive management. Also, the project team has maintained close contact with at least 10 partner organizations, which have been exposed to the project in even greater detail. As part of continued awareness and promotion, the Repro Money program was present at the following meetings and important events: Theriogenology, Progressive Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) in Marshfield; PDPW in Madison, American Association of Bovine Practitioners, World Dairy Expo, and La Crosse Trade Show. The Repro Money Program was featured in several local and national press releases including the Dairy Cattle Reproductive Council, Agriview, Dairy Today, and Dairy Herd Network (http://fyi.uwex.edu/repromoney : Press Releases).

Publications

  • Cabrera, V.E. 2011. Exploring methods to assess the economic value of dairy cattle reproductive programs. 2011 ADSA-ASAS Midwest Meeting, Des Moines.
  • Cabrera, V.E., Fricke, P.M, Ruegg, P.L., Shaver, R., Wiltbank, M., Weigel, K. and Cordoba, M. 2011. An integrated approach to improve dairy cow fertility. NRI/AFRI Animal Reproduction Joint PD Meeting, Washington DC, April 19-21, 2011.
  • Cabrera, V.E. 2011. The economic value of changes in 21-day pregnancy rate and what controls this value. 21st ADSA Discover Conference: Improving Reproductive Efficiency of Lactating Dairy Cows, Itasca, IL.
  • Cabrera, V.E. 2011. The economic value of changes in 21-day pregnancy rate and what controls this value. 21st ADSA Discover Conference: Improving Reproductive Efficiency of Lactating Dairy Cows, Itasca, IL.
  • Cabrera, V.E., Giordano, J., and Fricke, P. 2011. Economics of Resynchronization with Chemical Tests to Identify Non-pregnant Cows. Dairy Cattle Reproductive Council Annual Convention. Kansas City, MO, 10-11 November 2011.
  • Giordano, J.O., Fricke, P.M., Wiltbank, M.C., and Cabrera, V.E. 2011. An Economic Decision-Making Decision Support System for Selection of Reproductive Management Programs on Dairy Farms. Journal of Dairy Science 94:6216-6232.
  • Giordano, J.O., Fricke, P.M., Wiltbank, M.C., and Cabrera, V.E. 2011. Dairy Markov-chain simulation model for selection of reproductive management programs in dairy herds. J. Anim. Sci. 89 (E-Suppl. 1): 256.
  • Giordano, J.O., Kalantari, A.S., and Cabrera, V.E. 2011. Economic and reproductive outcome of programs combining timed artificial insemination and estrous detection simulated with a daily Markov-chain model. 21st ADSA Discover Conference: Improving Reproductive Efficiency of Lactating Dairy Cows, Itasca, IL.
  • Souza, H., Rivera, H., Crump, P., and Cabrera, V.E. 2011. Estimating field conception rates for Holstein sires in US herds (ACE index) and conception rate correlation from the same sires used for AI after natural estrus and timed AI breedings. J. Anim. Sci. 89 (E-Suppl. 1):26.
  • Weigel, K.A. 2011. Genetic selection as a tool for battling the decline in reproductive performance in lactating dairy cattle. 21st ADSA Discover Conference: Improving Reproductive Efficiency of Lactating Dairy Cows, Itasca, IL.
  • Weigel, K.A. 2011. Haplotypes affecting fertility. National Association of Animal Breeders Technical Bulletin, August 2011.


Progress 03/01/10 to 02/28/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The project team signed a cooperative agreement with AgSource (DHIA service) through which the project is receiving USDA-AIPL Format 4 (lactation) and Format 5 (fertility) daily records since Jan 1, 2010 for all 4,400 dairy herds AgSource processes. Data are being used to build Bayesian networks to describe interrelationships between fertility traits and herd and cow-level management variables. Experiments are being conducted on commercial dairy farms to determine whether specific diet components are associated with reproductive efficiency. A group of nutritionists are contributing with farm-specific diet information on a number of farms (45), which are being used to explain reproductive performance. These data (+150 herds) are being merged to explain possible relationships between pregnancy and culling rates, voluntary waiting period and service rate, herd size and reproductive performance, and availability of replacements. Information about milk production, milk components, and conception rate for 5 milk tests for large Holstein herds (>150 cows in milk) of ~300,000 first postpartum breedings are being used to study the milk fat: milk protein ratio on reproductive performance. A suite of methods is being used to estimate the net return of reproductive programs. These include adjusted partial cash flows, Markovian processes, and dynamic programming. Advancement of these were presented in several professional meetings: 2010 Midwest ASAS/ADSA, 2010 National ASAS/ADSA, and 2010 Dairy Cattle Reproductive Council Conference and in at least 5 Wisconsin extension meetings. Two user-friendly decision support tools have been developed and are being used for the extension component of the project. These are available online at http://dairymgt.info/projects/repro.php: Tools: Reproduction, with names "UW-DairyRepro$" and Dairy Reproductive Economic Analysis." The project team launched "Repro Money," project's integrated extension component. Farms are being recruited to form reproductive management teams. A package of extension materials have been extensively been tested with extension agents, veterinarians, AI industry professionals, and 4 pilot farms. Repro Money branded materials include a dedicated website (http://fyi.uwex.edu/repromoney/), a brochure, informational documentation, registration and program forms, power point presentations, and a management questionnaire. The questionnaire is the main tool for documenting program impacts before and after project. It includes software codes to retrieve reproductive and management information from farms' records (e.g., Dairy Comp 305). The Repro Money program has formally been presented and demonstrated in at least 13 extension meetings and it is being piloted on 4 farms. A core group of facilitators are ready to deploy and facilitate the program in the field. The project is fully staffed. The project team has leveraged additional funds from UW-Extension and UW-Madison USDA Hatch funds to complement salaries of personnel currently working in project. The project has been highly publicized in the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and from there to many other news outlets around the US. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals and main role/expertise: Victor E. Cabrera (PI/PD): Economic assessment of value of reproductive management in dairy cattle. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Paul Fricke (PI/PD): Reproductive physiology linked to mastitis occurrence. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Pamela Ruegg (PI/PD): Mastitis physiology linked to reproductive efficiency. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Randy Shaver (PI/PD): Nutrition physiology linked to reproductive efficiency. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Kent Weigel (PI/PD): Machine learning and Bayesian networks to explain management practices in reproductive efficiency. Assist in development and deployment of Repro Money extension program. Milo Wiltbank (PI/PD): Reproductive physiology linked to nutrition and diets. Maria Cordoba (Outreach Specialist): Repro Money extension program Carol Hulland (Mastitis Lab Manger): Mastitis lab tests Partner organizations: AgSource Cooperative Services (DHIA records): Large datasets of dairy records. Access to participating dairy farm records. Possible facilitation of Repro Money program. UW-Cooperative Extension and County extension offices: Disseminate and facilitate Repro Money extension program. Linkage between project and target public. Feed companies: Facilitation of Repro Money program and provide diet information of participating farms. Facilitation of Repro Money program: Pharmaceutical companies Artificial insemination and genetic companies A number of veterinarian practices. Collaborators and contacts: Julio Giordano (UW-Dairy Science PhD Candidate): Development and dissemination of reproductive economic decision support tools. Training or professional development: Alexandre Souza (Postdoctoral Fellow): Study nutrition and reproduction efficiency. Saleh Shahinfar (PhD Student): Study management practices impacts on reproductive efficiency. Maria Jose Valenzuela (PhD Student): Study impact of mastitis on reproductive efficiency. Afshin Kalantari (PhD Student): Study the economic value of reproductive programs. TARGET AUDIENCES: This project targets dairy farmers as the main group to serve. During the first year of this project, a number of pilot farmers (4) have participated in the Repro Money program and benefited from the facilitation process. In order to reach farmers, other multiplier groups are also included as target public to receive training and be exposed to the project. These multiplier groups are extension agents, veterinarians, nutritionists, other dairy farm consultants, industry people, scientists, etc. The project is currently undergoing and additional extension outreach activities are planned when more data are available. At the moment, a large number of "key people" have been exposed and are fully aware of the project's main objectives through informal educational programs, especially within the Repro Money extension program and within the assessment of the economic value of reproductive programs. These include: County extension agents (45), veterinarians (25), representatives of AI companies (20), nutritionists (15), other industry dairy farm consultants (20), progressive dairy farmers (30), participants of UW-Dairy Short Course (15), and other faculty and scientists (100). PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Project's Repro Money overarching extension program is and will be the main aim to change knowledge, actions, and conditions in dairy farm reproductive efficiency not only in participating farms, but also in farms exposed to the program through several other outlets in Wisconsin and elsewhere. It is early in the project to measure impacts as the integrated research and extension objectives are underway, but the project team is highly confident results of research and extension objectives will lead to measurable improved dairy farm reproductive performance. It is important to recognize that the project has already in place the means and metrics to measure reproductive efficiency (> 50 variables) and calculate the economic value of reproductive programs (e.g., $/cow/year) before and after farms are enrolled in the Repro Money program. Reproductive efficiency is being measured by variables within the following categories: pregnancy rate, insemination risk, estrous detection, male fertility, performance of synchronization protocols, conception rate, artificial insemination efficiency, pregnancy diagnosis, and female fertility. The program is designed to measure impacts and the above data are being collected in participating farms. The project team will be able to quantify project's impacts such as for example the improvement on the 21 d pregnancy rate or the additional net revenue gained because of improved reproductive efficiency. Project is already having an impact of awareness and change on attitude towards improved reproductive efficiency because a large number of target audiences (or multipliers -people in direct contact with target audiences) have been exposed to any or several components of the project, especially to the Repro Money program and its related evaluation of reproductive efficiency economic impacts. Both Repro Money and reproductive economic evaluation have been formally presented in at least 13 extension meetings reaching to more than 200 target public. Also, the project team has been in close contact with at least 10 partner organizations, which have been exposed to the project in even greater detail. By performing extensive analysis on the economic value of the efficiency of reproductive programs, the project team is finding that more important than the cost of implementation and management of reproductive programs is the overall net return (profit) value expected when having improved reproductive efficiency (e.g., least expensive reproductive programs do not imply greater profitability), the inclusion of heat detection and breeding in between timed AI programs could be either beneficial or detrimental to the overall economic reproductive performance depending on its efficacy. Also, the value of one percentage point increase in the 21-d pregnancy risk, for Wisconsin conditions, may vary between $30 and $5 per cow per year marginally decreasing when greater the initial 21-d pregnancy risk.

Publications

  • Giordano, J.O., Fricke, P.M., Wiltbank, M.C., Cabrera, V.E. 2010. An economic decision-making model for comparing reproductive management programs in dairy herds. Dairy Sci. 93 (E-Suppl. 3): 58.
  • Cabrera, V.E., and Giordano, J. 2010. Economic decision making for reproduction. Page 77 to 86 in Proc. 2010 Dairy Cattle Reproductive Council Annual Convention. St. Paul, MN.
  • Giordano, J.O., Fricke, P.M., Wiltbank, M.C., Cabrera, V.E. 2010. A stochastic evaluation of reproductive management programs for dairy herds. Dairy Sci. 93 (E-Suppl. 1):807.