375 Economic Consequences of Pregnancy Loss in Beef Cattle

Abstract

Over the last four decades, several advances in reproductive biotechnologies have helped beef producers improve genetic traits of their cattle, tighten the breeding season and shorten the calving season, leading to an increase in overall profitability of cow-calf production systems. However, even with these advancements, reproductive failure and embryo mortality are still a major cause for economic loss in beef production. Recently, we projected a loss of $6.25 per exposed cow for every 1% decrease in pregnancy rate, with an estimated gross loss of $2.8 billion annually in the United States due to pregnancy failure in beef females. It is estimated that 75 to 80% of embryonic loss occurs by d 20 of gestation; a large portion of these losses occur during the first week of gestation and likely are caused by issues relating to fertilization failure, incompetence of embryos originated from poor quality oocytes and suboptimal uterine conditions. Furthermore, within the first month of gestation, nearly half of all cows submitted to breeding will not be pregnant 30 d later, and another 5% will lose their pregnancy by d 100 of gestation. In addition, breeding related costs, including bull purchase, breeding soundness exam, estrous synchronization, semen purchase, labor associated with artificial insemination and pregnancy diagnosis, are estimate at $65 per cow exposed. Assuming a 90% pregnancy rate at the end of the breeding season, and a scenario where all 30 million beef females in the U.S. are exposed to fixed-time artificial insemination and undergo one pregnancy diagnosis, the added lost revenue of not producing a live calf to sell at weaning and the cost of breeding, would represent a loss of over $21 billion annually in the United States. Strategies that reduce pregnancy loss in beef cattle are essential to improve productivity and profitability of cow-calf production systems.

Harnessing Genomics and Transcriptomics Approaches to Improve Female Fertility in Beef Cattle—A Review

“…Cow-calf production is the foundation of the U.S. beef industry, representing 86% of beef operations and 84% of the beef cattle population in the country [7]. However, reproductive inefficiency has been a significant cause of economic loss and a limiting factor for the sustainability of the beef industry [8][9][10]. The annual gross loss (due to pregnancy failure) of beef females is estimated to cost USD 2.8 billion in the United States [10].…”

Machine Learning-Based Co-Expression Network Analysis Unravels Potential Fertility-Related Genes in Beef Cows

“…The sustainability of a cow-calf production system relies on the efficiency of reproductive performance per cow. However, a decline in cattle fertility has led to increased reproductive failure [ 1 , 2 ], which is a challenge for beef producers and a significant cause of economic loss [ 3 ]. Fertility is a lowly heritable, multifactorial trait affected by genetic, environmental, and management factors [ 2 , 4 , 5 ].…”

“…Fertility is a lowly heritable, multifactorial trait affected by genetic, environmental, and management factors [ 2 , 4 , 5 ]. Despite the limited selection response to traditional selective breeding strategies, reproductive and genomic technologies have provided opportunities to improve reproductive efficiency [ 3 , 6 ]. Several candidate genes and biological processes have been identified through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) [ 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Genomics of heifer pregnancy, days open, and days to conception in Red Angus heifers

“…Also, in 2008, it was shown that in Florida, $75 was lost per failed pregnancy during the breeding season [27], and that loss might even be higher if adjusted for inflation. Despite the increase in technology, reproductive failure and loss of embryo issues are still around, and an estimated loss of $2.8 billion in the US beef industry per year might happen if nothing is done [28]. Given the identified failures and what could be gained if a heifer gets pregnant early in the breeding season, it is essential to study the fertility traits further to increase the number of calves born alive and reduce the cost related to reproductive failure.…”

“…Despite the previously reported data scarcity and low heritability status of reproductive traits that hinder the genetic progress in beef cattle [44][45][46], these traits are believed to have a pivotal role in the development of the beef industry. Mercadante et al predicted a loss of $21 billion of revenue due to the failure to produce a live calf at weaning and the cost of breeding [28]. Morrey and Biased predicted that the beef industry would lose over $210 million due to late breeding heifers [47] as it is phenotypically related to cows continued reproductive success (i.e., stayability).…”