Heat Detection Accuracy and AI Technician Evaluation

The following points are important to remember in the quest to achieve a successful dairy reproductive program: • Pregnancy rate is a sensitive and valuable indicator of reproductive performance. • Insemination risk and conception risk are components of pregnancy rate. • Low heat detection accuracy can reduce conception risk and ultimately decrease pregnancy rate. • In an on-going heat detection accuracy study, the percentage of cows not in heat when inseminated varied between herds, from 0 to 13%, signifying a specific individual herd problem. Overall the average heat detection accuracy across all 10 dairies was 95.3%. • Evaluate AI technicians by • considering the numbers necessary to draw meaningful conclusions, • going behind the numbers and stratifying by insemination code or lactation number, • asking the question: Are the AI technicians breeding the same types of cows? • comparing like groups, or “apples to apples” and not “apples to oranges.” • Proper semen handling and deposition of semen is critical to the success of an AI program. • Continuing education is important to the success of an AI technician’s career and to the profitability of a dairy.