2005 adsa/asas/csas meeting (1) historical examination of culling of dairy cows from herds in the...

2005ADSA/ASAS/CSAS meeting (1)

Historical examination of culling of dairy cows from herds in the United StatesH. DUANE NORMAN, E. HARE, and J.R. WRIGHT

Animal Improvement Programs LaboratoryAgricultural Research Service, USDABeltsville, MD 20705-2350

[email protected] 301-504-8334


Positive vs. negative terms

LongevityProductive

lifeSurvival

StayabilityHerdlife

CullingDisposals

ReplacementTurnover

vs.


Selection

Natural control vs. Human control

Bos primigenius

(extinct, 1672)

Bos taurus(Canadian Holstein true type, 1973)

2004

“Do we always do the right thing in selection?”

ADSA 8th DISCOVER Conference (4)

“We have created a bird that can’t mate naturally!”

2004ADSA 8th DISCOVER Conference (5)

“Let’s make sure our dairy animals can continue to reproduce naturally!”


Cow population vs. production

5

10

15

20

25

40 50 60 70 80 90 00

Year

Cow

s (m

illio

ns)

4,000

7,000

10,000

13,000

16,000

19,000

Milk yield

(p

ounds/co

w)

2004ADSA 8th DISCOVER Conference (7)


Production (quantity, quality)

Producers have largely emphasized milk and component yields and type traits

We could have selected for sustained production using more fitness traits (had more of the traits been recorded)


Maturity rate vs. survival

“Has rate of maturity

changed over time? How has it affected

survival?”


What impacts culling?

Milk production Reproduction Nutrition Conformation Overall health (e.g.

mastitis) Management practices Business economics


Factors that impact culling rate Management style

(Hansen et al., 1998; Washburn et al., 2002; White et al., 2002)

Herd expansion(Faust et al., 2001)

bST

Culling decision software(Lehenbauer and Oltjen, 1998; Groenendaal et al., 2004; de Vries, 2004)

Replacement cost


Low culling rates

Expanding herds (Weigel et al., 2003)

Type traits (Caraviello et al., 2003, 2004)

Bulk milk SCC (Barkema et al., 1998)

SCS (Samore et al., 2003)

Crossbreeding (Weigel and Barlass, 2003)

Theoretical analysis (Hill, 1980)

Economic evaluation (Korver and Remkena, 1979)


Longevity definitions

True longevity =how long cows actually stay in the herd

Functional longevity = how long cows stay in the herd after an adjustment is enacted for milk yield, and perhaps other traits


Longevity periods

Two phases:– Productive–Nonproductive

Nonproductive = Birth to first calving

Productive = First calving to disposal


Productive life

Culling dates needed for all animals

Genetic evaluation

– First US national evaluation in 1994

– First international Holstein bull rankings for longevity in November 2004

Indirect response from correlated traits


Days open phenotypic trend

100

120

140

160

65 70 75 80 85 90 95 00

Year

Day

s open

12345

Lactation

Holstein


Economic value of longevity

Fewer replacement heifers needed to maintain herd size

Higher yield near maturity

Replacement heifers are better genetically

Higher proportion of cows in more profitable lactations


Health disorders

Big impact on voluntary culling

Reproductive and udder problems most likely contributors

Risk factors (dystocia, displaced abomasum, mastitis)


Reliable health information?


Objectives

Examine survival rates over time

Document how long cows remain in the herd

Examine when in the lactation cows are culled

Examine why cows are culled

Assess the impact of culling


Data edits

Herds participating in DHI testing for 1 yr prior to first calving and remaining on test throughout the cow’s lactations

Cows first calving 1980 to 1994 and remaining in same herd

Cows culled for dairy purposes excluded

No missing lactations (required 270–650 d between lactations)


Opportunity group

Subgroups created based on opportunity of each cow to calve at each lactation

Cow’s herd must remain on test for an increment of 450 d per lactation after start of first lactation

e.g., 450 d for opportunity first group,

900 d for opportunity second group,

1350 d for opportunity third group, etc.


Cows eligible for opportunity groups

BrownParity Ayrshire Swiss Guernsey Holstein

Jersey 1 71,952 120,158 173,260 12,773,403

654,024 2 63,931 106,273 158,650 11,319,316

570,973 3 56,576 93,592 137,555 9,971,550

494,967 4 49,736 81,815 143,649 8,738,975

429,201 5 43,684 71,802 129,092 7,602,286

372,088 6 38,487 62,759 115,606 6,576,598

322,992 7 33,596 54,798 102,869 5,693,402

279,335 8 29,172 47,251 91,234 4,883,776

239,510


Survival rate

Defined as fraction of cows that had the opportunity to calve again that did

Survival to parity 1 assumed to be 100% as no information was available for heifers


Survival to parity 2

BrownYear Ayrshire Swiss Guernsey Holstein Jersey1980 71.7 66.9 67.1 77.3 74.71984 69.8 65.0 66.4 74.6 73.61988 70.1 66.2 65.5 72.1 73.81992 69.5 63.6 60.8 72.4 74.51996 71.7 66.9 63.6 72.1 75.22000 71.8 68.8 66.3 74.1 76.2



BrownYear Ayrshire Swiss Guernsey Holstein Jersey1980 8.7 8.4 5.0 7.5 11.41984 7.3 8.2 4.1 6.1 9.81988 6.4 7.6 3.4 4.4 8.71992 6.7 6.0 2.6 3.5 7.71995 5.3 5.4 2.5 3.2 7.5


Survival rates (1966–83)

0

20

40

60

80

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Lactation

Surv

ival

rat

e (%

) AyrshireBrown SwissGuernseyHolsteinJersey

Nieuwhof et al., 1989


Survival rates (1980-94)

0

20

40

60

80

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Lactation

Surv

ival

rat

e (%

) AyrshireBrown SwissGuernseyHolsteinJersey


Survival rates- Holstein (1980-94)

0

20

40

60

80

Year of first calving

Surv

ival

rat

e (%

)Parity 2

Parity 3

Parity 4

Parity 8


Registered vs. grade survival

0

20

40

60

80

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Lactation

Surv

ival

rat

e (%

) Holstein (registered)

Holstein (grade)Jersey (registered)

Jersey (grade)



Herd composition by lactation

05

101520253035

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Lactation

% o

f her

d

AyrshireBrown SwissGuernseyHolsteinJersey



Holstein herd composition by parity

1966–76

Parity 6-88%Parity

58%

Parity 4

12%

Parity 3

17%Parity

224%

Parity 1

31%


1980–94

Parity 1

35%

Parity 3

17%

Parity 2

26%

Parity 4

11%

Parity 6-85%

Parity 5

6%


Mean number of parities

Additional measure of survival

Sum of mean survival rates for parities 1 through 8 transformed to an overall indicator of number of parities (calvings)


Mean parities through parity 8

2.50

3.00

3.50

Ayrshire BrownSwiss

Guernsey Holstein Jersey

Breed

Lact

atio

ns

(no.)

1966-83 1980-94



Mean number of parities

BrownYear Ayrshire Swiss Guernsey Holstein

Jersey1980 3.08 2.96 2.73 3.22

3.36 1982 3.05 2.97 2.67 3.13

3.311984 2.98 2.93 2.69 3.05

3.261986 3.00 2.85 2.61 2.96

3.201988 2.87 2.93 2.57 2.88

3.231990 2.88 2.87 2.44 2.85

3.191992 2.90 2.82 2.40 2.81

3.201994 2.89 2.86 2.41 2.79

3.20


Mean Holstein parities by herd size

Cows (no.)

51– 101– 201– 501– 1001– 2001–Year 5–50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 1985 3.05 3.02 2.99 3.03 3.02 2.87 2.82 1987 2.95 2.94 2.92 2.95 2.96 2.86 2.60 1989 2.85 2.85 2.85 2.92 2.88 2.83 2.73 1991 2.83 2.82 2.82 2.85 2.89 2.80 2.68 1993 2.82 2.79 2.77 2.80 2.89 2.81 2.76 1994 2.83 2.80 2.75 2.79 2.83 2.79 2.74


US regions


Mean Holstein parities by region Mid- Mid- Mtn.- North- North- South- South-Year east west Prairie east west east west

1980 3.24 3.09 3.03 3.43 3.23 3.14 3.221982 3.16 2.99 2.96 3.32 3.11 3.13 3.171984 3.03 2.91 2.95 3.23 3.04 3.01 3.141986 2.97 2.83 2.89 3.14 2.99 2.89 3.031988 2.90 2.74 2.81 3.06 2.91 2.82 2.971990 2.88 2.73 2.78 3.02 2.90 2.74 2.911992 2.80 2.71 2.78 2.95 2.83 2.67 2.901994 2.74 2.70 2.74 2.92 2.84 2.59 2.89


When are cows culled?

Delayed– Milking routine not

affected– Treated cows– Reproductive disorders

Immediate– Milking prevented– Teat injury– Downer cow


DIM at lactation termination

150

200

250

300

350

0 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Termination code

DIM

Termination codes:0 = Lactation in

progress or ended normally

2 = Sold for dairy purposes or testing discontinued

3 = Low production4 = Reproductive

problems5 = Not specified6 = Died7 = Mastitis or high

SCC8 = Abortion


DIM at culling for Holsteins first calving 1998–99 by parity

Parity 1 2 3 4 5 >5 DIM % of total 1– 29 4.1 2.4 3.3 4.5 11.4 25.2 30– 89 13.0 10.7 12.8 14.8 17.9 22.0 90–179 14.0 15.3 16.2 18.7 20.622.9 180–299 20.2 26.0 25.6 25.8 25.318.4 300–449 30.0 32.7 30.5 27.8 20.1 10.4 >449 18.8 13.0 11.6 8.9 4.41.0


Culling probability for cows 1st calving 1998–99

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Months in herd

Probab

ilit

y of

bei

ng c

ulled

(%

)

HolsteinJersey


Why are cows culled?

Voluntary Involuntary


USDA termination codes assigned to Holsteins not calving again by parity (first calving in 1998 or 1999)

Parity 1 2 3 4 5 >5Termination code % of total0 Lact. ended normally26.124.1 21.9 15.1 4.9 0.23 Low production 13.3 11.5 9.5 8.3 7.8 7.24 Reproductive 17.8 17.8 15.6 15.1 13.810.1 5 Sold for beef 26.1 26.3 28.8 33.1 38.239.6 6 Died 8.4 8.8 10.3 12.0 15.7 21.2 7 Mastitis, high SCC 9.4 11.6 13.9 16.5 19.621.7


Impact of culling


Mean calving age across all parities BrownYear Ayrshire Swiss Guernsey Holstein Jersey1980 57.2 58.9 54.3 51.8 54.61984 55.0 55.3 51.7 50.1 52.51988 53.9 55.8 49.8 49.5 51.71992 53.3 53.8 48.5 47.8 49.51996 53.4 53.1 49.1 46.9 50.12000 54.1 52.0 48.3 45.7 48.62004 54.3 51.0 48.5 44.6 46.6


Conclusions

Cows are replaced sooner than before

Survival is primarily independent of herd size

Survival is highest in Northeast and Southwest, lowest in the Southeast


Conclusions

Risk of exiting increases with parity

Most cows (69-72%) exit late (180 to 449 DIM) in early parities, but progressively earlier during later parities (50% by 149 DIM).

Need better information on health traits and reason for culling in DHI

Survival is highest in Northeast and Southwest, lowest in the Southeast

Overall breeding objective that includes but isn’t limited to survival


What dairy producers need

Sound information so that producers can minimize cow losses

Effective communication so that producers use the information

Better software on who and when to cull

Overall breeding objective that includes but isn’t limited to survival


Thank you


Mean lactations through 8

2.75

3.25

3.75

Ayrshire BrownSwiss

Guernsey Holstein Jersey

Breed

Lact

atio

ns

(no.)

RegisteredGradeAll cows


2005 adsa/asas/csas meeting (1) historical examination of culling of dairy cows from herds in the...

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