Identifying performance benchmarks and determinants for reproductive performance and calf survival using a longitudinal field study of cow-calf herds in western Canada

The cow-calf industry in North America is in a period of rapid consolidation with corresponding increases in herd sizes and changes in management. The objectives of this study were to examine longitudinal data on reproductive performance in cow-calf herds and identify benchmarks for the most critica...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2019-07, Vol.14 (7), p.e0219901-e0219901
Main Authors: Waldner, Cheryl L, Parker, Sarah, Campbell, John R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Beef
Beef cattle
Benchmarking
Benchmarks
Biology and Life Sciences
Birth
Breeding
Breeding seasons
Calves
Calves (Cattle)
Cattle
Cattle industry
Childbirth & labor
Data collection
Earth Sciences
Females
Intelligence gathering
Management decisions
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mortality
People and Places
Pregnancy
Pregnant women
Productivity
Questionnaires
Reproduction
Research and Analysis Methods
Risk
Standard deviation
Surveillance
Variation
Veterinarians
Veterinary medicine
Weaning
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The cow-calf industry in North America is in a period of rapid consolidation with corresponding increases in herd sizes and changes in management. The objectives of this study were to examine longitudinal data on reproductive performance in cow-calf herds and identify benchmarks for the most critical measures and important sources of differences among herds. To address these questions, a surveillance network was established in western Canada to collect data between 2013 to 2017 privately owned cow-calf herds during calving (n = 105 herds) and at pregnancy testing (n = 94 herds). Data were summarized for a number of indices of herd performance. However, the values considered to be most reliable and accurate were the percentage of females not pregnant when tested by a veterinarian, the percentage of calves dead within 24 hours of birth, and the percentage of calves dead from 24 hours to weaning. The mean and variation between herds for heifers, measured using standard deviation, was greater than for cows for: non-pregnancy (cows 6.8% (mean)±3.4%(SD), heifers 9.7%±8.2%), calf death from birth to 24 hours (cows 2.1%±1.6%, heifers 3.6%±4.5%), and calf death from 24 hours to weaning (cows 2.5%±2.4%, heifers 2.9%±3.9%). Benchmarks or performance targets derived from the 25th percentiles of these data for both cows and heifers were
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0219901