Achieve 25%+: Canadian Cattle Producers and Dairy Farmers Shift Into High Gear
From April 1, 2023, to March 1, 2024, producers and veterinarians from Western Canada, Ontario, and Quebec competed in the Achieve 25%+ program, aiming to improve cattle pregnancy rates. Some 1,100 teams and 208 veterinary practicians participated in this Vetoquinol initiative to enhance bovine health and performance. Discover why programs like this are vital to the industry—and how the competition turned out.
The importance of efficient reproductive programs
The latest Cow Reproduction Benchmarks from Lactanet show that pregnancy rates are below 20% on over half of Ontario and Western Canada cattle farms. Producers have, therefore, plenty of room for manoeuvre to improve the reproductive performance of their herds by working closely with their veterinarians to establish appropriate strategies such as hormone synchronization protocols.
Such improvement leads to healthier herds with increased milk production per cow. A Canadian study explains that “improved reproductive efficiency reduces both the number of reproductive culls and the need for replacement heifers,” further boosting the bottom line.
The Achieve 25%+ pregnancy rate program
Just like F1 racing, reproduction is driven by precision and performance. The Achieve 25%+ program challenged producers to aim for a collective pregnancy rate (or an average pregnancy rate) of 25% or higher through close monitoring of their operations. The results speak for themselves: teams that completed the challenge improved their average pregnancy rate from 21.5% to 25.6% in just one year, a 4.1 percentage point increase.
Team British Columbia took first place with a 4.58 percentage point increase, closely followed by Quebec with 4.31 points.
From Rookie to Champion: Legend Dairy Farm
If Grand Prize winner Douglas Groenendijk looks familiar, it’s because he’s also known for starring in CTV’s Farming For Love reality series.
As the competition started, Doug had just founded Legend Dairy Farm, a brand-new operation between Chemainus and Crofton, BC. Veterinarian Dr. Jackie Wrigglesworth found this unique opportunity to start the farm on the right foot especially exciting.
“Doug’s enthusiasm was infectious,” says the veterinarian. “We both wanted to get his farm started with a solid foundation and then work towards continual improvement as we figured out what worked best for him.” Regular monitoring of conception and pregnancy rates, along with reviewing related health events, helped Legend Dairy Farm achieve its goal.
Doug’s small herd proved to be a challenge. Building numbers and gathering reliable statistics takes time, ensuring that decisions lead to desired outcomes and observed trends are fact-based. Fortunately, the breeding program is already addressing that challenge. “We were really lucky and ended up with a huge wave of calves,” says Doug. “Now we’re working on spacing out the next ones!”
Doug adds that the increased pregnancy rates and efficiency have been a major boost for his business. “Good reproduction truly is a blessing,” he says.