Dr. Don Niles, partner on Dairy Dreams in Casco, Wisconsin, said there is no single miracle for a good breeding program and transition of heifers into the dairy herd; rather, there are several very important factors.

“A 20 percent pregnancy rate used to be the ‘gold ring’ we all reached for,” he said. “Now 30 is the new 20.” He credits better nutrition, timed-A.I. programs and genetic strategies for the improvements.

Niles shared how they apply the latest in dairy reproduction research to their 2,800-cow dairy during the Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference held annually in Dubuque, Iowa.

Dairy Dreams LLC is milking 3x with cows averaging 90-plus pounds per day. The pregnancy rate for Dairy Dreams has maintained a level of 30 percent for the past year.

He said, “Having a good transition plan, body conditioning, good nutrition and a good reproduction program all work together.”

He defined a good transition as having clean, healthy cows delivered to the breeding pen and good energy and ketosis control. “Ketosis is a good indicator of how cows are handling transition from an energy point of view.”

At Dairy Dreams, all fresh cows are tested weekly and are moved out of the fresh pen after two normal tests. Any blood β-hydroxybutyric acid of more than 1.2 is defined as ketosis and treated according to farm protocol.

Body condition maintenance becomes easier as reproduction improves due to fewer prolonged lactations. In turn, reproduction improves with controlled body condition. Good results in one area helps with the other. “Nutrition is critical for a solid reproduction program, but it is not more important than the other key areas,” Niles said.

In order to have an effective, protocol-driven timed-A.I. program, Niles said it is important there is “no thinking cowside.” He explained, “What you are going to do is preordained by your farm’s protocol.” All open cows at Dairy Dreams are checked for a corpus luteum (CL), and if a CL is present, they receive prostaglandin. If a CL is not present, the open cow has a controlled internal drug release (CIDR) inserted, along with a dose of gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

He also said they use the motto, “No cow left behind,” as a reminder to not skip cows when doing reproduction work. For example, when a cow that needs a repro shot or check is not found as planned, she is tracked down to her new location so all treatments can occur on the correct day. “We can’t allow ourselves to have a cow unattended on the day she needs shots,” he said.

A timed-A.I. program also benefits from a focused “do-not-breed” program. He explained, “Dairy Dream uses energy-corrected milk as a cutoff point for culling. In general, cows in first lactation must be giving at least 80 pounds of energy-corrected milk a day, second lactation at least 90 pounds a day, and later lactations they need to be giving at least 100 pounds a day.”

If open cows fall below these levels, they are flagged “D.” If a cow is flagged D, she will not receive any further resynchronization treatments prior to pregnancy check. If she is found open on pregnancy check, the herd manager is reminded by the computer software that no further breeding will be conducted on that cow.

At Dairy Dream, all animals are assigned a genetic score based on a custom index they created based on pedigree, which he referred to as DDINX (Dairy Dream Index). He referred to this as “poor man’s genomics” and added that a very accurate sire I.D. is required.

With the DDINX composite, the daughter pregnancy rate counts for 50 percent, pounds of protein counts for 40 percent and pounds of fat for 10 percent. The top 50 percent of the heifer herd is bred up to twice using sexed semen. The bottom half of the heifer herd is implanted with surrogate embryos up to twice. First-lactation animals of high genetic score are bred once with sexed semen. “A single-value genetic index can be created to match any herd’s goals,” he said.

Niles feels that a commitment to genetic improvement is critical in order for a herd to stay ahead in today’s competitive dairy world. “New advances in genetics have dramatically increased the speed and precision of genetic progress,” he said.

Niles co-owns Dairy Dreams LLC along with John Pagel of Kewaunee, Wisconsin. Niles is the manager of Dairy Dreams, while Pagel oversees his other businesses. Prior to building and managing his dairy facility, Niles was a practicing veterinarian from 1982 to 1998. In 1998, he left practice to travel to work as a technical service specialist for Monsanto Dairy Business.

Around 2001, Niles and Pagel began discussing the possibility of building a large dairy in Wisconsin. By March of 2002, the “dream” had become reality and they were milking 1,400, and they have since expanded their herd.  PD

PHOTO: Dairy Dreams LLC averages a 30 percent pregnancy rate with their 2,800-cow herd. Dr. Don Niles’s “no cow left behind” motto serves as a reminder to not skip cows when doing reproduction work. Photo courtesy of Alta Genetics.

Kelli Boylen is a freelance writer from Waterville, Iowa