Accurate Pregnancy Diagnosis increases profit

Accuracy in pregnancy diagnosis improves profitability of cattle enterprises.

Ultrasound pregnancy testing which has become very popular over recent years has limitations that some producers are not aware of and which mean that a pregnancy can be missed costing the farming or grazing enterprise dearly. On some farms as many as 30 per cent of ultrasound tested animals determined to not be pregnant were later shown to have been pregnant.

As calving season approaches vets from Australia’s peak veterinary organisation are keen to highlight the advantages of their nationally registered and audited cattle pregnancy testing scheme. The Australian Cattle Veterinarians, a special interest group of the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA), administers the National Cattle Pregnancy Diagnosis (NCPD) scheme which provides farmers with peace of mind, accountability for the work undertaken, and prevents losses through inaccurate ultrasound testing.

Accredited veterinarians are able to address these limitations through accurate manual checking of non-confirmed pregnancies.

The scheme is Australia’s gold standard for cattle pregnancy testing, and the only nationally recognised and audited tail tagging system for the identification and certification of cattle pregnancy status..

Under the NCPD scheme, only accredited vets are able to apply the tags, so when you buy or sell a cow or heifer with a tag you know that they have been tested by an expert.

The other advantage of using a qualified vet for this work is that they are more likely to pick up any other reproductive issues on the farm and provide solutions for the producer. It is really a dollars and cents issue for farmers. The NCPD scheme gives certainty to buyers and prevents incorrect assessment of cattle that can have a serious economic impact for farmers.