Nutritional controls of beef cow reproduction

Abstract

The livestock industry and animal scientists have long recognized the importance of proper nutrition for cattle to achieve reproductive success. Timely resumption of estrus following parturition is a major milestone that a cow must reach for optimal reproduction. Dynamic interplay among all strata of the hypothalamo-hypophyseal-ovarian axis occurs during the cow's transition from postpartum anestrus to reproductive competence. The reproductive axis integrates a milieu of nutritionally related signals that directly or indirectly affect reproduction. Directing nutritional inputs toward anabolic processes is critical to stimulating key events that promote reproductive success. Although prepartum and postpartum energy balance are the most important factors affecting duration of the postpartum interval to first estrus in beef cows, other nutritional inputs likely impinge on the hypothalamo-hypophyseal-ovarian axis to influence reproduction. For example, feeding fat to beef cows for approximately 60 d before calving may improve pregnancy rates in the upcoming breeding season. Supplementing postpartum diets with lipids high in linoleic acid can impede reproductive performance of beef cows. Precise mechanisms through which nutritional inputs mediate reproduction have not yet been fully elucidated. Scientists investigating nutritional mediators of reproduction, or how nutritional inputs affect reproduction, must be cognizant of the interactions among nutrients and nutritional cues responsible for mediating reproduction.