Since 2010, the PAN Livestock Services Ltd. has conducted annual benchmarking of key performance indicators for 500 Holstein/Friesian UK dairy herds. Each study covers >70 different parameters describing aspects of fertility, production and health. The principal objectives of the studies are to provide farmers and their technical advisers with accurate and current benchmarking of key performance indicators as the basis for discussion and target setting at herd level. Data from a cross-section of 195 UK Friesian/Holstein herds which have milk recorded for a minimum of 10 years to examine trends in the median herds’ KPIs from 2014 to 2023.

Herd size has increased by 15.8% but cows are being culled at a younger age. Fertility parameters have improved, most notably conception rates increased from 32.9% to 40.0% and the percent of cows conceived 100 days post-partum (DPP) increased from 30.4% to 39.0%. From 2014 to 2021, milk yield per cow per year increased from 8,394 kg to 8,797 kg and lifetime milk yield per cow per day increased from 11.7 kg to 12.8 kg, but both decreased slightly in 2022 and 2023. Many somatic cell count (SCC) related parameters improved between 2014 and 2023. Notably, the percent of cows dried-off with no SCC recordings ≥ 200,000 during a completed lactation increased from 39.7% in 2014 to 51.0% in 2023. Therefore, fertility and SCC related KPIs have demonstrated improvements but milk production appears to have peaked and recently plateaued, and the longevity of cows appears to have shortened. Decreased longevity appears at odds with pressure on farmers to attain environmental targets which would favour cows with longer, more productive lives.

Published paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2025.105739