We are over halfway through scanning our spring-calving herds now, so we can start looking at some trends in the numbers. Our analysis so far indicates the average 6-week in-calf rate is sitting at 68% which is a couple of percent down on last season. While the average rate may be back on last season, there are already 15 herds with 6-week in-calf rates above 78%, showing that herds can still achieve excellent results even under challenging conditions.
It is still a bit early to have accurate ‘empty rate’ figures yet, as many herds haven’t done their final pregnancy test at the time of writing this article. Early numbers suggest that the not-in-calf rate is likely to 1-2% poorer this season and anecdotally we feel the range is wider than normal. We will let you know final results in a later update.
Once you have your scanning results – what do you do with them…especially if you aren’t proud of them?
When the results are excellent, it is easy to know that all the hard work has paid off. What if, despite your best efforts, the results are worse than you wanted or expected?
NOW is the time to figure out what went wrong and to try and plan ahead to next season to make the best decisions possible going forward.
The best time to make sense of the pregnancy testing results is now, as spring is still fresh in our minds and we can still remember what was happening on farm leading up to, and during mating. Taking some time now to dig into the detail and figure out what went well (or otherwise!) will pay off in better results next season.
As part of Anexa’s scanning service to our clients, we can sit down and review your pregnancy test report with you, possibly identifying key areas for further focus. We have a long list of Anexa vets that are InCalf trained (which means they are extra enthusiastic about repro) that can delve deeper into the data if you want further advice or support.
We try to be organised and contact you, but if you haven’t heard from us shortly after we scan your herd then feel free to give us a nudge to book in your free post-scanning review.
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