What’s Really Most Important?
By Mel DeJarnette, reproductive specialist
It seems like everyone is burning the candle at both
ends these days. There are more things to do than there
are hours in the day to get things done. Demands on our
time pull us in all different directions until it eventually
becomes apparent that some of the things on our "to do" list
just aren’t gonna happen. That almost happened with this
article. When things begin to get overwhelming, it’s very
important to slow down and sit down long enough to prioritize.
If you’re like me, you always try to keep family at the top of
the list, but after that, the lines begin to blur. A handy scale
we often use around the office to prioritize various projects
is the "must do," "should do" or "would like to do" scale.
"Must do’s" are those projects that must be done and take priority
over all others. "Should do’s" are fit in at the next convenient
opportunity, and "like to do’s" are rainy day projects that often
get shoved to the back burner for a while. If you’re finding there
are not enough hours in the day to get all the chores done at your
dairy, it may be time to prioritize to make sure the important tasks
are staying up front and are not being pushed to the back burners.
HEAT DETECTION IS A "MUST DO"
I am both amazed and troubled by the frequency with which I find
heat detection treated as a "should do" or a would "like to do"
task rather than a "must do". The number one factor affecting the
profitability of any animal breeding enterprise (dairy, beef, pigs,
chickens, sheep, goats, etc.) is reproduction. Each breeding age
animal is a fixed asset that often carries a considerable financial
investment. Maintaining a reasonable calving interval is critically
important to the lifetime production, profitability, and potential
return on investment for each cow in the herd. We’ve all heard the
dollar values associated with extended calving intervals bounced
around from time to time. Depending on input cost, output value and
whose calculation method you use, these "costs of days open" can
range from $1 to $5. Most experts accept $3 as a reasonable number
for the average herd. A missed heat cycle basically extends the
calving interval by 21 days, and at $3 per day costs the bottom line
of the dairy operation in excess of $60. And that’s just for one cow.
Normally, four to five percent of your open and cycling animals will
be in heat on any given day. Just for grins and giggles, take the
number of open cows in your herd and multiply by five percent and
then multiply by $60. That’s a ballpark figure as to how much a day
without heat detection may be costing you. Divide this number by two
to get the cost of skipping just one of the two daily heat check periods.
Not funny is it? When you sit down and run the numbers, it’s hard to
imagine any job on the farm, other than feeding or milking, taking a
higher priority than heat detections. Few jobs on the farm will pay a
higher return on investment than the labor spent on good, sound heat
detection. Keep heat detection a "must do" priority.
PROPER SEMEN HANDLING IS A "MUST DO"
When it comes to getting cows bred, there are often many things working
against you over which you have little or no control including the weather,
feed quality, stress associated with high milk projection, and sporadic
disease out-breaks. Semen handling may be the only aspect of reproduction
that the inseminator has direct and total control over the outcome. All
too often, technicians attempt to take shortcuts and deviate from recommended
semen handling procedures which may save a few seconds to a minute at most.
However, if the animal fails to conceive due to reduced semen quality as a
result of these shortcuts, how much time and money will be lost as we
attempt to catch her in heat again for rebreeding? Don’t let something
so simple and easy to control as semen handling be the limiting factor
for reproductive performance in your herd.
HERD HEALTH IS A "MUST DO"
Congregating a population of any animal species into close proximity
without a sound program to prevent introduction and spread of diseases
is an accident waiting to happen. And sooner or later, it will happen.
Even if you’re maintaining a closed herd and not purchasing animals,
the bugs don’t know that and they wouldn’t particularly care if they
did know. There are numerous other methods for them to get in and infect
your herd. Birds, rodents, deer, raccoons, and vehicle tires or boots
of friends and salesmen are but a few potential vectors. Work closely
with your veterinarian to vaccinate against all diseases of concern in
your geographic area. Be especially careful when introducing new animals
into the herd. If possible, have them tested for diseases of concern
while located at the farm of origin. Keep them isolated upon arrival
until convinced they didn’t bring any unwanted guest (s). Isolate sick
animals immediately and cull judiciously if necessary. Just like an
insurance policy, we hope our herd health program is never needed and
the money spent on premiums (or vaccinations) is basically wasted.
However, not having an insurance policy or a herd health program when
the circumstances arise where you do need them, can result in
catastrophic financial loss.
NUTRITION IS A "MUST DO"
Maintaining top-notch nutrition programs is an absolute "must do" in
today’s high producing dairy herds. All too often, producers will
balance a ration once and then continue to use the same formulation
with constantly changing feed sources. Sooner or later, we finally
notice there is a problem when the cows begin to tell us. By then it’s
too late. An improperly balanced ration or poor quality feed invariably
lead to reduced milk production, metabolic problems, and poor reproductive
efficiency. Work closely with a qualified nutritional consultant to sty
ahead of problems. Test all new feed stuffs for nutrient content immediately
upon arrival and re-adjust rations accordingly. If milk urea nitrogen (MNU)
analysis is offered by your DHIA coop, take advantage of the opportunity
to monitor the efficiency of protein utilization in rations. Test periodically
for mycotoxins and anytime contaminated feeds are suspected.
Body condition scoring is an excellent means of monitoring the energy
content in rations, however, make sure you calibrate scoring techniques
against an appropriate scale. Many herd owners appear to score their own
cows about 0.5 point higher in body condition than would an impartial
evaluator. Although a half point in body condition may not seem like a
big deal, the difference in fertility between a 2.5 and 3.0 body condition
cow can be tremendous. Researchers have developed standardized methods of
scoring cows for body condition and have correlated these scores with
fertility time and time again. Don’t allow yourself to reset the scoring
scale to fit your herd, use the standard BCS scale to critically and
objectively evaluate the effectiveness of your nutrition program. If body
condition scoring is not a must do, it’s extremely high on the "should do" list.
The main reason nutrition is a "must do" for you is because reproduction
is a "would like to do" for your cows. Due to the phenomenon known as
nutrient partitioning, all mammals direct available nutrients to various
bodily functions on their own priority basis. The first and foremost
"must do" on the nutrient partitioning scale is body maintenance. This
is basically the energy required to keep the heart pumping, lungs
breathing, and all other essential organs doing their daily routine
to keep the animal alive. Any energy available over and above maintenance
requirements is directed to the "should do" category of production. This
energy will primarily be used for milk production and to increase body
weight. Finally, any energy left over after the maintenance and production
demands are met can now be directed to the "would like to do" category of
reproduction. Although we may not always have our priorities straight,
you can bet your cows always have their nutrient priorities straight. If
energy becomes limited in the ration, reproduction is the first thing to go.
Hectic life in today’s large herds seems to make it impossible to get
everything done. However, before you start pushing jobs or tasks to a
back burner to simmer, prioritize to make sure you know
"what’s really important".
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