The economic impact of a systematic application of fertility programs in lactating dairy herds, an European perspective

A dynamic, stochastic bio-economic simulation model, representing a 200-cow herd, was extended to include ovarian dysfunction and fertility inputs. Four hormone-based reproductive management programs were modeled:

Baseline Program: Reflecting current Dutch herd practices, cows are inseminated based on estrus detection, and non-cyclic cows receive hormone treatments based on veterinary diagnoses. Treatments include PRID-Synch for anoestrus cows, Ovsynch for cows diagnosed with cystic ovarian disease, and PGF2α administration to subestrous cows (Figure 1).

TAI only: Systematic hormonal treatment for timed artificial insemination (TAI) using Double Ovsynch for 1st AI and resynchronization for all the cows found non-pregnant at pregnancy diagnosis 32±3 days after AI according to ovarian status either with or without PRID supplementation (Figure 2).

TAI + Estrus Detection (ED): Similar to the second program but includes estrus detection for all the cows not pregnant after TAI (Figure 3).

Estrus Detection + TAI: Cows inseminated using ED after the VWP and if not detected in estrus are submitted to a PRIDSynch protocol (Figure 4).

All cows found non-pregnant at ultrasonographic pregnancy check performed at 32±3 after AI were re-synchronized based on the presence or absence of a corpus luteum (CL), cows lacking a CL received PRID-Synch cows with a CL received Ovsynch. The annual mean net economic return (NER) was calculated for each program.

In summary, systematic hormone-based reproductive management programs provided economic advantages over the default program, where hormones are administered based on veterinary diagnoses during fertility checks.