Maximizing herd lifetime productivity: Key factors and strategies to enhance longevity

Dairy cow longevity has moved more in the spotlight in recent years, mainly due to the economic and sustainability consequences associated with short animal lifespans. The decision of culling or keeping a production animal in the herd is complex and is influenced by many factors on farm.
Historically, longevity challenges are associated with bad productive performance or health events. The three main reasons for culling remain the same: health problem(s) (such as mastitis), poor fertility or lameness. However, with more and more emphasis being put on sustainability and welfare, there is now more emphasis on assessing the key factors which influence decision making on the farm that influence cow’s lifespan and demographic of the herd.
To quote Gavin Staley, role, with Diamond V/Cargill: “The productive lifespan of dairy cows is short compared to their natural life expectancy of twenty years. The average is very low in most developed dairy industries.’’
As the industry evolves and the demand for high quality, sustainable products such as milk progresses, it is important to give a hard look on how herd lifetime productivity can be improved to meet the demand but also to improve on-farm performances.
Key factors influencing cow longevity
Several factors affect the lifespan of cows, including genetics, environment, nutrition, and health. Each of these elements plays a significant role in determining how long a cow can live and remain productive.
- Genetics: Just like speed or endurance of racehorses, genetic traits can play a crucial role in the longevity of cows. Specific genetic traits link to productivity or health and have very strong heritability. This should be considered when selecting the right animals to improve the herd longevity in the long run. It is well established that certain animals are naturally more resilient and have longer lifespans. Great progress from a genetic standpoint, has been made to leverage those advantages.
- Environment: The cow’s environment and subsequently her cow comfort, significantly impacts the lifespan and productive life. For example, the Cow Signals approach has long promoted small management and environmental changes that promote cow longevity and performance. This methodology advocates for two more lactations per cow by the application of simple changes focusing on proper and ideal water access, optimized light exposure, correct stall design and size, enhancing air quality and optimizing feed quality and access. All these to increase cow longevity and more importantly, productivity.
- Nutrition: Optimizing the ration is a cornerstone of cow health and performance. A balanced diet that meets all the nutritional needs of cows can not only enhance their longevity but also support cow performances. Proper feeding practices, such as the right mix of forage, grains, vitamins, and minerals, are vital for maintaining their productivity. The use of specific additives or feed enhancement products in certain situations may help better support the challenging environment in which high producing dairy cows need to thrive. You often hear it; dairy cows have the diet regime of an Olympic athlete. Cows are allowed to thrive off of a tailormade ration for each important milestone of the production cycle in order to reach their full potential.
- Health: Modern dairy cows produce more milk in a single lactation that the entire lifetime milk production of dairy cows back in the 1940’s. Great progress has been made in the past 50 years to ensure we support our high producing animal’s health during the challenging period of production. Much of this progress stems from improved management practices that then improve overall animal health. This is essential as the wellbeing of dairy cows will play a crucial role not only to ensure they can maintain this high level of production but also that they continue that trend. As previously mentioned, the number one reason for culling today remains linked to the health status of our dairy cows.
How can you influence your herd longevity?
Improving herd longevity is no easy task. The basics need to be in place and it is essential that all the efforts are being made to ensure the right breeding and genetic selection, optimizing the environment in which animals need to perform and ensuring that the best nutrition and health support is provided to perform at their greatest potential. Once these cornerstone pieces are in place, it then becomes a question of management and how do you interpret the data that your farm provides you. If you are willing to listen, your cows are giving you a lot of information that can be leveraged and used to take good decisions on herd demographic.
First, let’s focus on efficiency. Optimizing the needs and requirements of your high-quality replacement animals. One good example is age at first calving of high genetic value replacement heifers. We have long focused on the age at first calving and trying to get our heifers pregnant as soon as we can to get them in production sooner. However, we now see that this is at a cost and that there are potential benefits on targeting an optimal age at first calving in the long run. The targets remain 23 months. Although, this should be met with the proper growth and development goals for the animals. Breeding our animals at the right time and assuring they receive everything they need to get to their optimal mature weight will plant the seed for a long and productive lifetime in your herd.
In addition, let’s focus on allowing the right cows to stay in the herd longer and become more productive. According to recent on-farm data collected across more than 200 herds in Canada more than 32% of cows in herds are in their first lactation and less than 25% are in fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh lactation. We also know that the third lactation and onwards are the most profitable lactations for our dairy animals. Again, focusing not only on bringing replacement animals in the herd but optimizing the production and meeting the high level of requirement of our most productive animals will help you keep your cows longer in the herd and reach that high level of productivity.
Finally, improving resource utilization on your most productive and efficient animals will help you become more sustainable and maximize your herd health and performance. An interesting approach to measure this key factor is to focus on the lifetime energy corrected milk (ECM). This key performance indicator allows producers to interpret the current productivity of the herd and determine what key actions can be taken to improve the average lifetime ECM. Keeping in mind the operations overall productivity, by focusing on keeping the right proportion of animals per lactation, the most productive animals in the herds and being strategic with the culling decisions, your herd may become much more profitable.
Understanding and enhancing cow longevity is a multifaceted approach that requires attention to genetics, environment, diet, and healthcare, but also requires constant data analysis of the current herd demographic. By adopting best practices in cow management, you can ensure better herd lifetime productivity for your herd and improve your economic bottom line. Finally, by focusing on key factors that can influence your herd lifetime productivity and take a holistic view of your farms, you can identify opportunities to maximize your herd efficiency and the long-term sustainability of your operation.
References omitted but available upon request.