Cost of sub-optimal levels of fertility impacting on returns

摘要

According to Kingshay development director Richard Simpson, the current situation of rising milk and feed prices means that extending the calving interval alone could now easily be costing producers as much as 4.90 per day. "We estimate that slippagefrom a target index of 365 days, say to around 420 days - an average interval not unusual in many herds - is now costing 270 per cow. Add in the costs of the extra semen for additional services, as well as increased involuntary culling and the true costof infertility can be as much as 341 per head, or a profit-draining 3.84 pence per litre," he says. (See table).