Interactions of high milk yield and reproductive performance in dairy cows

Correlations between reproductive traits and measures of milk yield indicate that higher yield is associated phenotypically and genetically with reduced reproductive performance in lactating cows. Numerous recent studies have reported that reproductive performance is compromised, primarily through delayed ovarian activity and reduced conception rates, by the demands of high milk yield. However, daily managerial decisions to obtain efficient reproductive performance have considerable impact. Management can offset depression in fertility, because high yielding herds often achieve the fewest days open. Selection for milk yield has increased blood concentrations of somatotropin and prolactin, stimulators of lactation, and decreased insulin, a hormone that is antagonistic to lactation and may be important for normal follicular development. These changes in hormone concentrations promote higher milk yield but may be potentially detrimental to other physiological functions, such as reproduction, if the management is not adequate to meet the metabolic demands of lactation. Timing and magnitude of negative energy balance apparently interact to determine the extent to which negative energy balance alters hypothalamic secretion of GnRH and its effect on gonadotropin secretion and, therefore, ovarian secretion of progesterone, which affects expression of estrus and support of the uterus during early pregnancy.