Waikato DairyNZ Farmwatch for week ending February 23

COMMENT

By DairyNZ

Pregnancy testing is underway for spring mated herds, with many seeing some improvement on last season.

The results will help you with preparing a cull list and working out your expected calving pattern for the spring, but a key benefit is using the results to identify areas for improving mating next season.

Now is a perfect time to consider drying off rules and autumn feeding strategies that can have a huge impact.

Look for a pattern among empty cows, how did each age group perform?

For example, if your heifers have an above-average empty rate it may point to poorly grown replacements.

Are late-calving cows the problem group, or carry-over cows?

The InCalf Fertility Focus Report is a powerful single-page report that assesses current herd reproductive performance and shows which management areas to focus on for improvement.

DairyNZ Farmwatch for week ending February 23.

It will give clues to where you can improve, for example, heat detection, and calving spread, is it the first half or second half of mating where the issue lies?

The Fertility Focus report is available via LIC, CRV AmBreed and Infovet.