Whether it s an El Nino year or a La Nina year, there s one thing you can count on.
Summer usually means a reduction in conception rates and reproductive efficiency.
Each year, stress associated with high temperatures and humidity wreaks havoc on reproductive performance of dairy herds nationwide. However, no matter what we do, all herds will have some cows that need to be inseminated during the summer. But, if we can adopt management procedures to get a higher percentage of the herd pregnant during the spring, there will be fewer headaches to deal with in the summer. Cows conceiving last spring need to be bred again and crops need planting. All too often the latter takes precedence.