Progesterone concentrations in milk fat at first insemination - effects on non-return and repeat-breeding

The relationship between milk fat progesterone concentration at first artificial insemination (AI) and reproductive performance of Norwegian Red Cattle dairy cows was investigated in a field study. Fifteen Al technicians collected milk samples from 2250 cows from 458 herds and progesterone was analysed in the milk fat portion of the samples. Logistic regression revealed decreased probability of non-return, and increased likelihood of repeat-breeding, with increasing progesterone concentrations at insemination. The odds ratio for non-return and for repeat-breeding between the minimum and maximum value for milk fat concentrations between 4 and 32.2 ng/ml was 4.5 (P < 0.01) and 3.2 (P = 0.01), respectively. The variable 'Technician' did not significantly influence non-return rate or repeat-breeding. Progesterone concentration at Al was positively related to calving to last insemination interval, and to number of inseminations per cow (P < 0.05), The association between the progesterone concentration at insemination and calving interval was only marginally significant. Technician was significantly (P < 0.01) associated with interval from calving to first Al, interval from calving to last Al (P = 0.05), and number of Al per cow (P = 0.01). Technician was not significantly related to the calving interval. We conclude that increased suprabasal progesterone concentrations at the time of first insemination, and higher return rate at Al may, at least partly, be due to endocrinological asynchrony at Al, a condition which may lead to decreased fertility. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.