EU FP7 "FECUND" Project, Gran Agreement n. 312097 - Final Report

FECUND is focused on fertility of dairy cattle, where the greatest reproductive problems exist and where the financial benefits of improved reproduction efficiency are greatest. The project addressed the reproductive biology of ovulation through implantation which is the period which is associated with greatest reproductive losses. FECUND worked together with the PROLIFIC project, which was funded under the same KBBE call for proposals, to address the most important reproductive problem facing cattle production at a European level. Concomitant with intensive selection for increased milk yield, reproductive performance of dairy cows has declined in recent decades, in part due to an unfavourable genetic relationship between these traits. Today the decline in fertility has become a major concern of farmers and the dairy industry. The causes of this decline in reproductive success are multi-factorial (Pretheeban et al., 2009) with higher milk yield being shown to have an inverse relationship with the pregnancy rates observed in dairy cows (Faust et al., 1988). Embryonic loss is a major cause of this reduced pregnancy rate (Hansen, 2002). Successful implantation and establishment of pregnancy is dependent on good quality embryos, an appropriate endometrial environment, and the successful interaction between the embryo and the endometrium (Chen et al., 1999). While selection for productivity has had a negative impact on fertility and some genetic loci have been shown to have opposing effects on production and fertility, other loci act on only one or other of these traits. Understanding the relationship between metabolism and fertility and the interaction with genetics will allow producers to optimise productivity and reproductive success.