Milk production of Holstein dairy cattle that were conceived in winter or summer months

Abstract

This dataset contains the milk production records (mature equivalent milk, kg) of Holstein dairy cows in the United States during their first lactation. These records were obtained from dairy farms in three states (Georgia, Florida and Texas) from 1999 to 2011. For each production record, the season in which the cow calved is indicated. Winter encompasses the months of December, January and February; spring includes March, April and May; summer includes June, July and August; fall includes September, October and November. Cows included in this dataset were either conceived during summer (indicated as "1" in the HSCONCP column) or winter (indicated as "0" in the HSCONCP column). This dataset was anonymized to ensure privacy of the dairy producers. For a full dataset, interested parties should contact Dairy Records Management Systems, North Carolina State University, 313 Chapanoke Road, Suite 100, Raleigh, NC 27603 (Attn: Dr. John S. Clay, Director, john_clay@ncsu.edu).