Let's talk about reproduction

Mike and Eliza Scarlett-Brown have lifted the production level of their North Canterbury farm to a regional high in one season.

When they moved down from the Bay of Plenty to begin the 2014-15 season on David and Jo Holland's 790-cow farm just south of Cheviot, Mike and Eliza Scarlett-Brown inherited a herd that rated slightly below most industry targets.

They went on in that first season to hit an 80per cent six-week in-calf rate - the region's highest - as well as setting a new production record for the farm.

When they arrived, the cows were lighter than they would have liked, with a body condition score (BCS) range of 4-4.5, needing to gain 0.5-1 BCS before calving to be at the optimum of 5-5.5.

"Getting them to that condition score was our goal so we chucked everything at them and we're lucky to have farm owners and a consultant who trust us," Eliza says.

But feeding the herd well and paying close attention to condition scores are just part of the picture, Eliza says. The whole system has to be right and all eight ingredients of the "fertility cake" are important - calving pattern, heifer management, body condition and nutrition, heat detection, dealing with non-cyclers, genetics and AI, bull management and cow health.

The Scarlett-Browns do six weeks of AI and four weeks with the bull and any cows which don't get in-calf are culled. With 20-25per cent replacements coming into the herd each year, they have plenty of scope to cull any non-performers.

Eliza and Mike use DairyNZ's InCalf Fertility Focus reports as part of fertility management.

"It gives you great feedback. It sums up all the focus of our mating and provides us with some information to work from."

They've adopted other technological aids as well. "We've got apps on our phones so when we're putting them up to AB we can look up the cow and see what breed composition she is, when she calved, and if she's been put up. "

While the Scarlett-Browns were pleased to have bettered the farm's previous production record and achieved its lowest cell count of 93,000, what really thrilled them was breaking the 80per cent six-week in-calf rate.

"Everyone prioritises differently but we've always understood the impact the six-week in-calf rate has and the importance of getting it right," says Mike. "We've seen it wrong so many times. It's nice to be the best at something that is your most important.

"You can make more money and save money by increasing your six-week rate.

Preparing for the next mating starts in April, months before any calves areon the ground but, even in September, there are levers that they say can be pulled to improve results.

"Make sure cows don't lose too much condition, so feed them well coming up to mating," Mike says.

Light cows should be preferentially fed to get them up to target condition. This can be achieved by regular condition scoring and drafting accordingly.

"Make sure whoever's doing your AB is trained and that you've got a plan," Eliza says. "Every year we've got our dates down, our tail-painting is on this day, our K Mars [heat detectors] are going on this day etc. These dates are fixed in stone.

"Reproduction has always been our key focus and from April 1 we tend to think about the next mating and how we're going to achieve BCS targets."

They tail-paint one or two cycles before mating so they can pick up any cows that aren't cycling and decide what action needs to be taken.

"Some of them will just have had a shocker of a calving ... so you might get rid of them. There'll be some that haven't cycled just because they're a bit light so you can preferentially feed them if you've got enough time," Mike says. "There might be some cows who you've looked at and said, 'there's no reason why you haven't cycled'. Those ones might get a CIDR to help them cycle. If you're going to intervene, you need to have it done before the start of mating."

Mike and Eliza feel that, if the preparation has been done as it should be, mating should be a relatively stress-free period.

-Inside Dairy