Seasonal variation in milk production and culling in California dairy herds

Abstract

Heat stress influences production and health in dairy herds. The effectiveness of different cooling strategies could potentially be assessed by the degree of seasonal variability on production and health within a herd. The first step to develop an assessment tool is to understand the regional seasonal variation in production and health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the seasonal variation on milk production, peak milk, and early culling in California Holstein herds.