STRATEGIES FOR CREATING REPLACEMENTS TO KEEP THE ROBOTS AT CAPACITY

Several months ago, I had a conversation with a farmer who was considering adding another robot for seasonal use. His cow numbers varied so much through the year that his existing robots didn’t have the capacity to milk his herd during his peak calving season.

By contrast, I work with a customer who used to calve most of his cows in spring or fall, 6 months apart. This had worked well in the parlor, and the 2 large groups of calves made efficient use of calf and heifer facilities, allowing for an all-in-all-out program. But he wasn’t keeping the robots full, so he was not maximizing annual milk production. In 2 years, he has manipulated his breeding program so that heifers are raised in 4 groups instead of 2. Total annual milk production has increased because he can keep the robots at capacity

Granted, some farms choose to calve seasonally because it allows them to make better use of pasture or milk markets. In those scenarios, lower feed costs or higher milk prices may result in higher net profit, even though the robots aren’t always full.

Many farms unintentionally trend towards seasonal calving. A herd might become semi-seasonal if a large group of springers is purchased to populate after an expansion. Breeding challenges associated with hot weather can also create seasonal highs and lows. Once a seasonal trend is started, it will continue because calves born during peak times enter the herd as cows 2 years later during peak times, and their calves accelerate the cycle.

As an AI technician (the old AI), I remember days when I was already dripping with sweat as I arrived mid-morning to breed ovsynch cows. The farmer was likely to ask if it really made sense to breed the cows. And, we would ask the same question 30 days later when the herd check didn't go well. The bottom line was, we bred the cows because when pregnancies are hard to create, it becomes more important to create every pregnancy you can.

The same logic applies, whether pregnancies are hard to create because of hot weather, or pregnancies are hard to create because there are fewer cows to breed. Sexed semen and beef semen are being used very effectively to manipulate the total number of replacements created each year. Those tools can also be used to manipulate when replacements are created within the year.

If you need to break a seasonal calving cycle, increase your use of beef semen during peak calving months and use only enough dairy semen to generate the number of calves you need each month. Increase the use of sexed semen when there are fewer cows to breed, to increase your chances of creating the number of heifer calves that you need.

The strategy becomes a little more difficult to follow if you end up using beef semen on your best genetics when there are a lot of cows to breed, and sexed semen on animals with lower genetic merit when you need more calves. Balance the genetic progress against the extra milk that can be sold if the robots always operate at capacity, and do what is most profitable for your farm.

Call Cow Corner if you need help developing a strategy or evaluating the economics. Put our experience to work on your farm.