Wynnstay Fresh Cow Reports: How can it benefit your farm?
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- 2 Oct 2018
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The transition period is the most critical time in a cow’s lactation due to its lasting effect on the subsequent lactation. It can be one of the biggest bottlenecks on farms and one of the best places to find opportunities for improved herd performance. Wynnstay Fresh Cow Reports help discover where problems may be occurring. By looking at Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), the report identifies any strengths and weaknesses of the transition period and, therefore, can help with management decisions on what areas could be improved.
By using Interherd + software to create Fresh Cow Reports for dairy farmers, multiple aspects of early lactation are monitored on a monthly basis. From this, bottlenecks can be highlighted and more informed decisions can be made to improve management. Any changes can be periodically monitored in terms of herd-level cow responses in production and cow health.
The three main aspects of the Fresh Cow Reports are;
- Transition
- Fertility
- Production
During the time after transition, a cow will be at her most venerable to being sold and is at a significantly higher risk of death due to a poor transition, for reasons such as fresh cow diseases or poor production. Looking at how many cows have died or are being sold is a way to determine how successful the transition programme is, with a lower number leaving the farm is an indication of a successful transition. This can be linked to last year’s calving pattern, looking at this shows how many animals have calved each month over the past year and allows us to be able to see if there are any patterns or correlations with other herd events, such as overstocking or seasonal management changes.
A poor transition can also lead to reduced production post-calving. This can be highlighted as a ‘broken box’; cows achieving significantly less milk yield than expected in early lactation. This can put into context the number of cows that transition poorly and can really highlight the extent of any transition issues on a herd level. It is also important to look at the shape of lactation curves and production at every stage in lactation as this provides an opportunity to pick out where any problems may be occurring.
By looking at the above points, and many other aspects, Fresh Cow Reports give an overall perspective on how well cows are transitioning and persisting through lactation, giving a breakdown in different areas. From this, it is easy to look at the positive aspects of the transition and if any problems are occurring, where they potentially are occurring and, therefore, help with management decisions needed.
We can easily run a Fresh Cow Report with you on your farm, all we need is access to your NMR/CIS files. We can then create the report every time you have a new recording, which allows for benchmarking on how effective the transition is.
Wynnstay Head of Dairy services, David Howard has over 12 years of experience in the ruminant feed industry following his graduation from Harper Adams University. His specialities lie in key areas such as robotic milking, lameness in dairy cows and transition cow management. As well as being a qualified Cow Signals Master Trainer, David has been a mentor for Farming Connect in the area of robotic milking systems.
