This month Drs. Keith E. Latham and J. Richard Pursley join us from Michigan State University to discuss their research comparing cows that maintained body condition versus those who lost during the first month of lactation, and the impact that has on reproductive success.

Dairy producers are familiar with the struggles cows have when the transition period fails and cows thin down. Turns out these researchers identified part of the reproductive puzzle, a molecular change on the oocyte which potentially explains poor fertility for those who loose condition.

Listen in as Dr. Pursley describes the “High fertility cycle” your herd can experience when all the puzzle pieces fall in place. He’ll provide reproductive benchmarks to assess to ensure your herd avoids over conditioning and therefore improve reproductive performance in the following lactation.

This month’s feature article “Effects of early lactation body condition loss in dairy cows on serum lipid profiles and on oocyte and cumulus cell transcriptomes” is found here in the Journal of Dairy Science. For more information about Bovine Reproduction, visit the MSU Bovine Reproductive management website at: https://dairycattlereproduction.com/

#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY

Figure 6 - Referenced in the DSD 3.8