The value of improved reproductive performance to a dairy farm

Abstract

The rate at which dairy farms get cows pregnant has economic consequences. After an optimal voluntary waiting period (VWP), the sooner cows get pregnant, the more milk they will make in their lifetimes. Additionally, the sooner cows get pregnant, the more offspring they and their offspring will produce. In order to justify the allocation of resources to improve pregnancy rate, it is necessary to quantify the economic return of those improvements.