– Lucas Melo-Goncalves and Pedro Fontes, Department of Animal and Dairy Science, University of Georgia
Late embryonic mortality can have lasting consequences for cow productivity and herd performance.
In cow-calf operations, reproductive success is the primary driver of productivity. Each cow must produce a healthy calf every year to keep the herd economically sustainable. Most producers are familiar with the challenge of cows that fail to conceive, but fewer recognize the long-term effects of pregnancy losses that occur after a cow has already become pregnant. Most pregnancy loss in cattle occurs in the first 3 months of pregnancy. The term early embryonic mortality (EEM) is used to describe pregnancy loss that occurs within 30 days after conception. These losses are unfortunately common, affecting approximately 20 to 40% of pregnancies in beef herds. While undesirable, these early pregnancy losses are often manageable because cows experiencing EEM often have enough time to rebreed during a typical 60- to 90-day breeding season. Pregnancy losses that occur later in the first trimester of pregnancy, between 30 and 90 days after conception, are referred to late embryonic mortality (LEM). Although less frequent, affecting approximately 3-8% of pregnancies, these later losses can . . .
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