Cow fertility – not so black and white
Friday, February 28, 2014 - 14:30
in Biology & Nature
Holstein cattle - the black-and-white dairy cows you might see in a child's picture book - have been bred in northern Europe for hundreds of years. Over the last few decades, better management and selective breeding of the most productive cows have led to steady increase in milk production per cow. But more milk has had a downside; namely, a decline in fertility. Now, the FECUND project, started in 2013, has begun to investigate Holstein biology to reverse the fall in fertility. The project hopes to intervene by identifying genetic ways of spotting cows that can support the early stages of reproduction. This will then allow breeders select for more fertile animals.