Profitability starts with fertility

02 Jul '22

For a while, we've been unsatisfied with how the fertility trait is presented...the scale of 1-3 really didn't make sense and it required research on the part of the producer to figure it out.

Since fertility is the most important profit driver in a breeding herd, we decided to remedy the situation and rebuild with ease of understanding in mind.

Understanding Fertility (FE)

Fertility is a really basic calculation if we want it to be, and all we really need the software to tell us, is which cows and genetic lines are persistently taking longer to get in calf.

Ultimately, we don't care why a cow didn't get in calf, it's a red flag and the cow should be removed from your breeding herd.

The updated Fertility (FE) trait reflects this reality and is displayed as how many cycles (on average) does this cow need to get in calf?.

The example below shows active breeding females sorted by fertility, you'll notice that higher fertility heavily influences a higher profit index.

Why is Fertility (FE) so valuable?

If we assume a market price of $1.40/lb with an Average Daily Gain of 2.1lb at weaning:

Each additional day required to get in calf costs $2.94 per cow.

Each full cycle will cost $61.74 per cow.

To make that value up in growth, you need an extra 44.1 lbs at weaning...and that's just break even.

Simply put...
Live calf on the ground from the first cycle = PROFIT.