Evaluating Information Obtained from Diagnosis of Pregnancy Status of Beef Herds

Good reproductive efficiency is critical for economic sustainability of beef herds. Standard measurements of reproductive success are the percentage of cows exposed to bulls at the start of the breeding season that are pregnant at midgestation and the percentage of pregnant cows that give birth to a live calf. Converting fetal age data to a reproductive profile displaying pregnancy percentages by 21-day periods provides information for the diagnosis of suboptimal reproductive efficiency and guides intervention strategies. The value can be amplified by evaluating reproductive profiles by animal age or management group.