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Enhancing the Economic Competitiveness
of Missouri's Dairy Heifer Industry
Project completed by University of Missouri Commercial Agriculture Dairy Focus Team
July 2007

Current Situation: A review of DHIA data on Missouri's dairy herds versus U.S. dairy herds is listed in the table below. The data supports the common belief that many Missouri herds calve dairy heifers too late and/or too small. This presents the opportunity for dairymen to realize lower costs of developing their own heifers by managing differently or to lower costs by outsourcing their heifer development to a contract heifer grower.

2007 Benchmarks of Missouri DHIA Dairy Herds versus U.S. DHI Herds

Age at Freshening	All States	Missouri	All States	Missouri	All States	Missouri
	% of all herds		% of first calf heifers culled		%of first calf heifers died
< 23 months	7.6%	4.2%	17	34	3	4
24-25	38.3%	31.4%	18	21	3	4
26-27	30.4%	28.6%	20	18	3	4
28-30	17.6%	27.7%	19	22	3	4
31-34	5.2%	7.6%	17	15	4	2
Total or average			19	21	3	4

Dairyman's Money Left on the Table Estimator:
Our work with Missouri dairymen reveals that they tolerate economic losses from calving older or smaller heifers because of two commonly accepted beliefs:

1. Older heifers have fewer problems entering the herd.
2. Heifers can be developed more inexpensively at home using feedstuffs with low opportunity costs.