Over the last few decades, average milk production per cow has steadily increased due to advances in breeding, feeding and management. However, this improvement has come at the cost of decreased fertility, with many farms struggling to achieve the ideal calving interval of 365 days.Reproductive failure in dairy cattle has a dramatic impact on the economic success of farms. According to a 2014 estimate, a farmer loses approximately $US 5.2 for every extra open day. Reproductive failure is also the number one reason for culling. This requires the farmer to raise more heifers, which has negative economic as well as environmental consequences. Reducing the need for replacement heifers lowers costs and improves the environmental footprint of each kilogram of milk or meat produced, as the emissions from the development until first calving are spread along a higher number of lactations. With a modest improvement in fertility, methane emissions from a herd can be reduced by 10% to 25%.
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