Short communication: do Holstein lactations of varied lengths have different characteristics?

The calving intervals of Holstein cows in many countries have been increasing in length over recent years. Many reports of lactation characteristics refer only to a standard 305-d lactation. This paper attempts to describe the characteristics of lactations of different lengths using a large database of nationally recorded data. Three different lactation lengths were studied: 305 d (the traditional annual calving interval), 370 d (the current UK national average), and 440 d (equivalent to an 18-mo calving interval). Test-day milk yield; fat, protein, and lactose composition; and somatic cell counts were analyzed. Characteristics of each of 29,838 lactations were calculated using a biological model of lactation and were analyzed to identify which factors affected them. Maximum secretion potential was the only trait not affected by lactation length. Day of peak yield, peak yield, persistency, and total milk yield all increased with lactation length, whereas relative cell death rate and the rate of milk increase in early lactation both decreased as lactation length increased. For most weeks of lactation, the 3 lactation-length groups differed from each other in most traits, following the order of their lengths; for example, milk yield was always higher for lactations of 440 d and lower for those of 305 d. The post-peak trends in all traits were found to continue in longer lactations. Thus, daily milk production and lactose percentage continued to decrease as lactations became longer, whereas fat percentage, protein percentage, and somatic cell count continued to increase. Pregnancy was found to affect all traits, leading to an accentuation of these trends in late lactation. However, the effect of pregnancy depended on the yield at about the fourth month of pregnancy. Lactations of 305, 370, and 440 d all had different characteristics and not solely due to increasing length.