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Copley JP, Engle BN, Ross EM, Speight S, Fordyce G, Wood BJ, Voss-Fels KP, Hayes BJ. Environmental variation effects fertility in tropical beef cattle. Transl Anim Sci 2022; 6:txac035. [PMID: 35529039 PMCID: PMC9070491 DOI: 10.1093/tas/txac035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The northern Australia beef cattle industry operates in harsh environmental conditions which consistently suppress female fertility. To better understand the environmental effect on cattle raised extensively in northern Australia, new environmental descriptors were defined for 54 commercial herds located across the region. Three fertility traits, based on the presence of a corpus luteum at 600 d of age, indicating puberty, (CL Presence, n = 25,176), heifer pregnancy (n = 20,989) and first lactation pregnancy (n = 10,072) were recorded. Temperature, humidity, and rainfall were obtained from publicly available data based on herd location. Being pubertal at 600 d (i.e. CL Presence) increased the likelihood of success at heifer pregnancy and first lactation pregnancy (P < 0.05), underscoring the importance of early puberty in reproductive success. A temperature humidity index (THI) of 65–70 had a significant (P < 0.05) negative effect on first lactation pregnancy rate, heifer pregnancy and puberty at 600 d of age. Area under the curve of daily THI was significant (P < 0.05) and reduced the likelihood of pregnancy at first lactation and puberty at 600 days. Deviation from long-term average rainfall was not significant (P < 0.05) for any trait. Average daily weight gain had a significant and positive relationship (P < 0.05) for heifer and first lactation pregnancy. The results indicate that chronic or cumulative heat load is more determinantal to reproductive performance than acute heat stress. The reason for the lack of a clear relationship between acute heat stress and reproductive performance is unclear but may be partially explained by peak THI and peak nutrition coinciding at the same time. Sufficient evidence was found to justify the use of average daily weight gain and chronic heat load as descriptors to define an environmental gradient.
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Affiliation(s)
- James P Copley
- Centre for Animal Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
- Corresponding author:
| | - Bailey N Engle
- Centre for Animal Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Elizabeth M Ross
- Centre for Animal Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Shannon Speight
- Centre for Animal Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
- Black Box Co, Mareeba, QLD 4880, Australia
| | - Geoffry Fordyce
- Centre for Animal Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Benjamin J Wood
- School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, Australia
| | - Kai P Voss-Fels
- Centre for Animal Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
- Institute for Grapevine Breeding, Hochschule Geisenheim University, Geisenheim 65366, Germany
| | - Benjamin J Hayes
- Centre for Animal Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
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de Araujo Neto FR, dos Santos JCG, da Silva Arce CD, Borquis RRA, dos Santos DJA, Guimarães KC, do Nascimento AV, de Oliveira HN, Tonhati H. Genomic study of the resilience of buffalo cows to a negative energy balance. J Appl Genet 2022; 63:379-388. [DOI: 10.1007/s13353-021-00680-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2021] [Revised: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Tamboli P, Bharadwaj A, Chaurasiya AK, Bangar YC, Jerome A. Association between age at first calving, first lactation traits and lifetime productivity in Murrah buffaloes. Anim Biosci 2022; 35:1151-1161. [PMID: 34991194 PMCID: PMC9262729 DOI: 10.5713/ab.21.0182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective Methods Results Conclusion
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