This episode “The Impact of Heifer Supply on Production, Udder Health, Profitability & Welfare” was presented at the 2025 Western Dairy Management Conference.
Episode 160: The Impact of Heifer Supply on Production, Udder Health, Profitability and Welfare
Timestamps:
Mike gives an overview of his three presentations at the conference regarding heifer supply. The panel discusses how the industry went from too many heifers to not enough, impacting production and the overall welfare of herds. (3:46)
Clay asks Dan about his breeding philosophy from a semen standpoint right now as a purebred Holstein breeder. He suggests skating to where the puck’s going versus where it’s been and focusing on yield and protein after such a large emphasis on fat. He also emphasizes health traits, particularly because the industry needs cows to last longer due to low heifer supply. Mike notes that this can have negative impacts, including lower milk yield, more chronic mastitis, and perhaps elongating the generation interval of genetic gain. He shares that while huge strides have been made in genetic improvement for yield and components, we have gone backwards a bit on disease resistance and fertility in the last five years or so. Tom suggests that it just ups the ante on management, especially with an older milking herd, affecting overall profitability and udder health. (10:55)
The panel talks about sexed semen (beef and dairy both) and IVF/embryo transfer. The supply of heifers significantly impacts the strategies for production and overall herd welfare. (14:49)
Mike details some research in Holstein herds that decreased their replacement rate and number of heifers calving from 2020-2022 (surplus herds) compared to 2023-2024 (short herds). Short herds kept cows 25 days longer in milk, but the net impact was an average of seven pounds less milk per day over the last 30 days prior to culling. This scenario also led to an increase in chronic mastitis, which has further implications on profitability and udder health. (20:18)
Mike describes his presentation regarding the heifer completion rate: once a heifer is born alive, what’s the expected percent of heifers remaining at first calving? Many producers have a false high assumption of this number, around 90%. In 65 herds Mike analyzed in the last year, the median completion rate was 76%. He details the different life stages during which losses occurred, along with management considerations to reduce impacts on production and herd profitability. Dan shares his perspectives on the heifer completion rate. (24:11)
The panel discusses a variety of topics around heifer supply, including whether heifers are entering the herd at a younger age to compensate for low inventories, appropriate heifer size at calving, optimal age at first calving, and just how short the supply of heifers is. These aspects are essential in contemplating not just production effects but also welfare and overall farm profitability. (29:01)
Panelists share their take-home thoughts, including the impacts that heifer supply has across production, udder health, welfare, and profitability areas. (38:35)
Conclusion
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