| Title | An Integrated Approach to Improving Dairy Cow Fertility | |
| Team | Cabrera, V.E., Fricke, P., Ruegg, P., Shaver, R., Weigel, M., Wiltbank, M. |
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| Term | 48 months January 2010 - January 2014 | |
| Amount | $1,000,000 | |
| Sponsor | Integrated Solutions for Animal Agriculture Agriculture Food and Research Initiative National Institute of Food and Agriculture |
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| Why it was successful? (ppt) (CRIS) |
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| Web Link | http://fyi.uwex.edu/repromoney/ |
Overview
The overall objective of this integrated project is to improve the reproductive efficiency of lactating dairy cows using an interdisciplinary extension and research team that will identify and remove barriers to reproductive success and link outcomes of basic and applied research with an innovative extension delivery program.
Results from this integrated research and extension proposal will lead to novel approaches to optimize reproductive efficiency in lactating dairy cows, and these approaches will enhance the sustainability of dairy farms through integration into a novel extension educational program that will be developed in Wisconsin and subsequently transferred throughout the US via collaboration with eXtension.
Our research and extension team is uniquely positioned to achieve the objectives described in this integrated proposal. The combination of internationally recognized, research-based state specialists, effective county-based extension agents, modern dairy research units, numerous and diverse commercial dairy operations, state-of-the-art laboratory and computational resources, and an established track record of effective, collaborative research and outreach activities within a single unit is remarkable in Wisconsin.
Objectives|
Specific Aim 1. Characterize the contributions of specific management factors to the observed variation between commercial dairy farms in cow fertility. Specific Aim 2. Determine the impact of specific nutritional components on reproductive performance of lactating dairy cows. Specific Aim 3. Identify the impact of mastitis on fertility and pregnancy loss in lactating dairy cows. Specific Aim 4. Evaluate the economic impact of reproductive management strategies on overall farm sustainability under a variety of management scenarios. Specific Aim 5. Generate measurable improvement in the reproductive performance of dairy herds by developing and implementing an integrated team-based extension program that builds on existing professional relationships within the farm community. |
Scope
The research and extension activities described in this integrated proposal revolve around the selection and recruitment of a cohort of 200 dairy farms throughout Wisconsin. Once selected, we will collect on-farm data that will allow us to fully characterize various aspects of reproductive management and performance on these farms during the first year of the proposal. These data will then be used as benchmarks for reproductive performance, as well as a source of data to be analyzed experimentally in Specific Aims 1-4. In addition, these 200 farms will form the basis for our extension Reproductive Management Teams (RMT), which will be formed to improve reproductive performance on these farms as described in Specific Aim 5.
InvestigatorsVictor E. Cabrera, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Extension Specialist in Dairy Management Department of Dairy Science University of Wisconsin-Madison Phone/fax 608-265-8506 1675 Observatory Drive Room 279 Madison, WI 53706. http://dairymgt.uwex.edu/about.php Role: Project PD/PI, Specific Aims 1, 4, and 5. |
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Paul M. Fricke, Ph.D.
Professor of Dairy Science http://www.uwex.edu/ces/dairyrepro/ Role: Project Co-Pd/PI, Specific Aims 3 and 5. |
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Pamela L. Ruegg
Extension Milk Quality Specialist 282 Animal Sciences 1675 Observatory Drive Madison, WI 53706-1284 Phone: (608) 263-3495, (608) 263-9411 Fax: (608) 263-9412 plruegg@wisc.edu http://www.uwex.edu/MilkQuality/ Role: Project Co-PD/PI, Specific Aims 3 and 5 |
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Randy Shaver
Extension Dairy Nutritionist http://www.uwex.edu/ces/dairynutrition/contact.cfm Role: Project Co-PI/PD, Specifics Aims 2 and 5. |
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Kent A. Weigel
275 Animal Sciences Building http://dysci.wisc.edu/faculty/individual/weigel.htm Role: Project Co-PI/PD, Specifics Aims 1, 4, and 5. |
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Milo Wiltbank
850 Animal Sciences Building http://dysci.wisc.edu/faculty/individual/wiltbank.htm Role: Project Co-PI/PD, Specific Aim 2. |
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CalendarPD/PIs/Specific Aim/Outputs |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 3 |
Year 4 |
Year 5 |
Weigel, Cabrera |
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Shaver, Wiltbank |
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Ruegg, Fricke |
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Cabrera, Weigel |
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Ruegg, Cabrera, Fricke, Shaver, Wiltbank |
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Tools
Dairy Reproductive Economic Analysis
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UW-DairyRepro$: A Reproductive Economic Analysis Tool
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| (CRIS) |
