A UNITED States cattle reproduction expert has urged Australian dairy farmers to take reproduction in their herds more seriously.
Charlie Perotti, who is a senior executive at Alta Genetics and manages the company's global reproduction program, spoke at the recent Young Dairy Development Program's 'Milk it 4 More' expo at Glenormiston.
He said poor fertility levels in Australian dairy cows should not be tolerated.
"Farmers here have got to focus more on getting cows pregnant," he said.
"There is just no excuse. Reproduction is the number one economic driver on a dairy farm."
He advised dairy farmers to adopt extensive synchronisation programs and regular pregnancy-checking protocols.
Open cow checks should be completed frequently to make sure reproduction targets were met.
"Synchronisation does work," he said.
Although the cost of adopting reproduction programs could be costly, Mr Perotti said the payback was huge.
"There are two things that maximise revenue, and that is milk sales and cattle sales," he said.
"You have to maximise your revenue."
He was also excited about how genomics had shaped the dairy industry already.
"The speed of genetic progress has changed dramatically," he said.
At Alta, he said the selection process had intensified and the accuracy levels of bulls had improved.
About 4000 bulls were now DNA-tested, with the aim of purchasing 100 bulls to use for semen selection.
On the topic of sexed semen, Mr Perotti said the technique did not always work well.
"The problem is conception rates," he said.
"The process takes up to six hours , and in the meantime sperm cells die.
"The technology is not progressing."
He also said Australian dairy farmers should be taking advantage of the purebred heifer export market.
"I don't understand why farmers throw a bull out with their heifers, because you are going to get a crossbred animal," he said.
"I would encourage more producers to breed a crop of virgin AI heifers. It's more work, but it's worth it."
Mr Perotti said Australian farmers were in a unique position.
"We don't have an export market in the US," he said.
"Producers should be creating more purebred Jerseys and Holsteins, because that's what the market wants."
Meanwhile, Matt Makin - who is the Corangamire Shire mayor - told the crowd the Milk it 4 More expo, the south-west dairy industry was in a strong position to take advantage of global demand for dairy products, but said the region also faced several challenges.
Farmers in the region produce two billions litres of milk annually or 23 per cent of the national milk output, while the value of dairy exports in the region was the equivalent of $516 million, he said.
"If the dairy industry is to grow, we need more conversions from what is a very inefficient beef sector," he said.
Mr Makin added roads were high on the agenda when it came to improving infrastructure in order to grow the dairy industry.
"There is a high level of ignorance about the level of economic benefit that dairy farmers in the region produce," he said.