Culling and replacement rates in dairy herds in Canada

Culling Reasons

Culling Reasons

Culling Reasons	2013 Number of cows	2013 Total (%)	2014 Number of cows	2014 Total (%)	2015 Number of cows	2015 Total (%)	2016 Number of cows	2016 Total (%)	2017 Number of cows	2017 Total (%)	2018 Number of cows	2018 Total (%)
Reproductive	49,815	17.3%	47,689	18.0%	44,016	7.7%	42,251	17.2%	9,772	17.3%	44,646	17.4%
Mastitis	35,695	12.4%	30,569	11.5%	29,151	11.7%	27,708	11.3%	24,695	10.8%	27,562	10.8%
Feet and leg problems	22,399	7.8%	19,666	7.4%	18,833	7.6%	17,643	7.2%	16,084	7.0%	17,861	7.0%
Low milk production	20,668	7.2%	19,159	7.2%	18,870	7.6%	17,650	7.2%	16,174	7.0%	19,785	7.7%
Sickness	14,156	4.9%	13,171	5.0%	12,677	5.1%	12,140	4.9%	11,841	5.2%	11,352	4.4%
Injury to udder/teats	2,872	1.0%	2,577	1.0%	2,168	0.9%	2,016	0.8%	1,835	0.8%	2,038	0.8%
Injury/Accident	10,333	3.6%	9,768	3.7%	9,667	3.9%	9,414	3.8%	9,161	4.0%	9,134	3.6%
Old age	6,053	2.1%	5,199	2.0%	5,088	2.0%	4,785	1.9%	4,498	2.0%	5,334	2.1%
Difficuactive calving	1,807	0.6%	1,754	0.7%	1,508	0.6%	1,520	0.6%	1,438	0.6%	1,434	0.6%
Bad temperament	2,402	0.8%	2,197	0.8%	1,847	0.7%	1,758	0.7%	1,501	0.7%	1,784	0.7%
Conformation	1,824	0.6%	1,767	0.7%	1,585	0.6%	1,502	0.6%	1,254	0.5%	1,550	0.6%
Displaced abomasum	1,175	0.4%	1,011	0.4%	892	0.4%	848	0.3%	841	0.4%	838	0.3%
Milk fever	1,373	0.5%	1,259	0.5%	1,165	0.5%	1,085	0.4%	1,075	0.5%	1,016	0.4%
Slow milker	1,816	0.6%	1,447	0.5%	1,348	0.5%	1,277	0.5%	1,076	0.5%	1,352	0.5%
Arthritis	997	0.3%	887	0.3%	838	0.3%	746	0.3%	709	0.3%	778	0.3%
Pneumonia	811	0.3%	786	0.3%	799	0.3%	903	0.4%	912	0.4%	970	0.4%
Staph aureus	774	0.3%	707	0.3%	570	0.2%	537	0.2%	458	0.2%	535	0.2%
Leukosis	637	0.2%	698	0.3%	627	0.3%	565	0.2%	511	0.2%	549	0.2%
Low fat	43	0.0%	57	0.0%	57	0.0%	71	0.0%	65	0.0%	111	0.0%
Paratuberculose	81	0.0%	89	0.0%	77	0.0%	57	0.0%	41	0.0%	48	0.0%
Low protein	36	0.0%	31	0.0%	21	0.0%	16	0.0%	8	0.0%	21	0.0%
Unknown	58,350	20.3%	50,555	19.1%	46,408	18.7%	50,524	20.6%	50,012	21.8%	60,552	23.6%
Total culling reasons	234,117	81.5%	211,043	79.7%	198,212	79.7%	195,016	79.4%	183,961	80.1%	209,250	81.7%
Culling Rate	-	33.51%	-	30.29%	-	28.55%	-	28.19%	-	26.16%	-	31.63%

Other Reasons

Other Reasons for replacement - Sold for Production

Other reasons	2013 Number of cows	2013 Total (%)	2014 Number of cows	2014 Total (%)	2015 Number of cows	2015 Total (%)	2016 Number of cows	2016 Total (%)	2017 Number of cows	2017 Total (%)	2018 Number of cows	2018 Total (%)
Dairy production	36,856	12.8%	37,491	14.1%	35,085	14.1%	34,358	14.0%	30,861	13.4%	31,046	12.1%
Exported	1,929	0.7%	2,276	0.9%	2,239	0.9%	2,291	0.9%	1,488	0.6%	1,502	0.6%
Transfers	1,078	0.4%	976	0.4%	1,021	0.4%	859	0.3%	927	0.4%	788	0.3%
Rented out	664	0.2%	621	0.2%	420	0.2%	521	0.2%	598	0.3%	556	0.2%
Mortality Poison	270	0.1%	240	0.1%	190	0.1%	218	0.1%	193	0.1%	204	0.1%
Peritonitis	296	0.1%	296	0.1%	260	0.1%	232	0.1%	273	0.1%	252	0.1%
Bloat	86	0.0%	110	0.0%	75	0.0%	79	0.0%	93	0.0%	82	0.0%
Electrocution	29	0.0%	12	0.0%	11	0.0%	11	0.0%	24	0.0%	13	0.0%
Others	11,815	4.1%	11,893	4.5%	11,061	4.4%	11,941	4.9%	11,233	4.9%	12,534	4.9%
Total other reasons for replacement	53,023	18.5%	53,915	20.3%	50,362	20.3%	50,510	20.6%	45,690	19.9%	46,977	18.3%
Total Replacement Rate1	-	41.10%	-	38.03%	-	35.80%	-	35.49%	-	32.66%	-	38.73%

¹ Includes total culling reasons and total other reasons for replacement
Source: CanWest DHI and Valacta
Calculations done by AAFC-AID, Market Information Section

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Date modified:

2020-01-14