Risk factors for poor fertility on free-stall farms with and without the use of automated activity monitors in southern Brazil

Through this project, we aim to determine on-farm factors that may effect the fertility of farms which use automated activity monitors (AAM) within their reproductive management in southern Brazil. AAM are technologies that monitor the physical activity of cows to try to detect when the cow comes into estrus. These technologies are becoming more important to the dairy industry as the use of hormone fertility treatments are becoming viewed as less appealing to consumers. We hypothesize that farms that use AAM will have higher fertility than those relying on observed estrus but similar fertility than those that use timed artificial insemination (TAI). Additionally, we believe that the environment where the cow is housed and its physical health will have effects on fertility, where herds with high lameness and leg injuries will have compromised fertility. Furthermore, we hypothesize that the factors that affect farm fertility will be different for farms whose reproductive management strategies are focused on the use of AAM in contrast to TAI based programs.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ronaldo Cerri

Student:

Tracy Anne Burnett

Partner:

Discipline:

Food science

Sector:

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Globalink Research Award