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Unlocking key to
calving-age riddle
NEW research will help Australian
dairy farmers know the best age to
calve their Holstein heifers.
The research by DairyUP is aimed
at helping farmers calve their Holstein heifers to maximise production,
health, and reproduction.
Kit will also help the industry
understand what is best for intensive
housed-cow dairy farming systems
and those pasture-based operations.
DairyUP researcher Andrew Lean
is working to answer one of the longheld industry questions using global
data and on-farm monitoring of 429
Holstein heifers across six farms –
both intensive and pasture-based.
“The age that dairy heifers calve
into a milking herd for the 昀椀rst time
can play a signi昀椀cant role in their
health, carbon footprint and well-being and the economics of a dairy farm
business,” he said.
“While many dairy farmers aim
to calve their heifers for the first
time at two years of age, the reality is that timeframe – according to
Researcher Andrew Lean
heifers in the DairyUP database – can
range from 24 months in an intensive
system and up to 26.5 months for a
median age at 昀椀rst calving at pasture-based operations.”
A global literature review conducted as part of the DairyUP project revealed the age at 昀椀rst calving
globally was 24-28 months.
Research also showed improved
calving ease for heifers with an age
at 昀椀rst calving of 18-22 months.
Concerns about lower production
in a heifer’s 昀椀rst lactation – potentially due to earlier calving – also
were not a concern because lifetime
production is greater, and has less
“unproductive” time.
It is only early days in the DairyUP
on-farm research, but Mr Lean said
there were already some signs about
the bene昀椀ts for earlier breeding.
“Very early data indicates a higher
pregnancy rate in the group of heifers bred at 12 months of age, compared to those bred at 14 months of
age or older but this is subject to further analysis of a complete dataset,”
he said.
In addition to solving the industry’s age-of-昀椀rst-calving mystery, this
research project will also concentrate
on heifer hormonal and metabolomic
in昀氀uences at, or around, puberty.
It will also study the effects of
nutrition and environment on the production, health, and reproduction of
housed cows.
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James Young | 0449 178 715 | james.young@fontpublishing.com.au
16 TASMANIAN COUNTRY Friday, July 5, 2024
Research uncovers best date for Holstein calving.
