Effects of various feeding, breeding and management practices on milk production

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; • The March 1984 DHI :sum mary of f{ansas Holstein her'ds shows some interesting correlations of various feeding, breeding, and management factors to production ( Table 1). The Rolling Herd Average (RBA) is an excellent evaluation of the efficiency of dairy herds since RHA and incomc-over-feed-cost are closely related. Although income-over-feed-cost is not profi t, it pr'ovides the income for paying the other costs of producing milk. The goal of every dairy producer should be to increase the RflA in order to improve profitability.· The following observations can be made from Table 1: Feeding Higher producing herds are fed mor·? grain and more dry matter than those with lower RH A's. The rations of higher producing Ilerds are composed up of about 12% more grain than those of lower herds. but hte higller RHA herds produce milk more efficiently, as shown by tile milk/lb of grain or milk/lb of dry matter fed. Total feed cost increases with RII A but feed cost/cwt milk decreases, which results in more incorne-over-feed-cost for higher RH A herds.

Management
All of the management factors contributing to tile RIIA cannot be evaluated by the DHI report. However, high RHA herds have a higher percent of days in milk and fewer dry days than lower producing herds.
More days in milk are accomplished with shorter dry periods, raising more replacments, and then culling first lactation heifers while they are still lactating.
Reproductive management does not seem to be much different in relation to RII A, except the number of days from calving to first service tends to be less in high RHA herds. Apparently, high production does not have a negative effect on reproduction. Most herds could shorten the calving interval by reducing the days between calving and first service.

f)
An obvious management characteristic of high producing herds is the high summit milk yield. Apparently, feeding and management programs during the dry period and early lactation are such that fresh cows peak higher in their lactation curves than those in lower producing herds. A 60-day dry period is recommended. For high summit milk yields, starting about 2 wk before calving, dry~ows should be fed the same forages as the lactating cows with about 15 lb of grain. Following calving, fresh cows should be on a high level of grain within a few days. The average age of cows in high Rfl A herds is lower than in low herds. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that high RH'\ herds have more mature cows. Also, the high RHA herds' first calf heifers are slightly youngel'. Bl'eeding Sire selection is closely related to the R[l A. All age groupS are sho~n t~be sired by higher PD$ bulls as the RH A increases. In addition, the serVice sires currently being used have a higher PO$ value and higher percentile rank in the high [{HA herds. High RHA herds use a largel' percent of proven bulls than lower RH A herds. The goal should be 80/80, which means 80'!6 of the COWS bred to at least 80+ percentile rank bulls. The other 20% of the cows should be bred to several young Al sires to help prove the next generation of bulls.
CSound breeding decisions cannot be made without identification. Table 1 shows that the percent of cows identified by sire and dam increases with the RHA.
• Figure 1 depicts the stage of lactation profile of the groups of herds summarized in Table 1. It is obvious that the hiaher RH A herds maintain the • b productIOn advantage through all stages of lactation. Thus, in order to obtain high total lactation yields, cows must staI't their lactations at a high level.