The W4112 Regional Research Project was established in 1970 to create a cooperative research group that would combine both basic and applied expertise to identify mechanisms and develop methods to improve the fertility of domestic ruminants in the Western states.  The philosophy and mission for the W4112 established fifty years ago continues to be the guiding tenet of our group; that is, cooperative multi-state research, that provides novel information to aid in product and technique development and outreach for the benefit of animal producers in the Western region and across the nation. 

The project serves as a forum for the identification, development and conduct of collaborative studies aimed at solving problems that limit the reproductive performance of domestic livestock.  Scientists associated with the project collectively possess expertise required to discover basic physiological mechanisms and translate such new knowledge to the management of domestic ruminants.  Some stations are best equipped to evaluate basic science questions that may lead to enhancement in production situations.  In contrast, other stations have the animal resources to test new treatment paradigms arising from the basic studies, but do not have the laboratory facilities (or modern equipment) necessary to perform the basic research studies.  These circumstances create an ideal situation for our regional collaborative projects and has been capitalized on by project members, leading to numerous collaborations among many university agriculture experiment station and USDA agriculture research station scientists.  Renewal of the W-112 Regional Research Project is crucial because interactions among scientists with a broad range of expertise are necessary for the discovery, translation, and transfer of new knowledge to the livestock industry.   

Poor reproductive efficiency in domestic ruminants limits profitability and sustainability of animal production systems in the West and throughout the nation.  Therefore, we seek to continue work in this critical area.  Participation in the project since its inception has greatly increased in scope and is now comprised of scientists located in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico,  Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, and Wyoming.  We believe the challenges of livestock producers are often common among producers and are best addressed by combining the expertise and resources from all multiple states.  The addition of leading reproductive biologists from states outside the West has increased the breadth and greatly strengthened the scientific expertise of W4112.  The W4112 regional project has also welcomed those whose main interests are nutritional or statistical expertise to increase our breath and ability to determine physiological processes and develop tools to enhance reproductive success. Renewal of this multi-state project is essential to continue to provide a forum that stimulates the development of new hypotheses, conduct of new collaborative research projects, sharing of resources, and identification and testing of new methods to manage reproduction in domestic ruminants. 

The livestock industry is a critical component of the agricultural industry in the states represented by scientists involved with the project.  The dairy, beef, and sheep industries together contribute approximately $81.5 billion in farm receipts and an estimated overall production value of $192 billion.  In addition, direct and indirect employment related to the production and processing of these animals or their products supports over 2.3 million jobs (Otto and Lawrence, 2002; Cryan, 2004; Shiflett, J.S. 2008).  Over  56 percent of the nation’s breeding cows (beef and dairy) and 70 percent of the US breeding ewe inventory exist in states represented by participating W4112 scientists (USDA-NASS, 2019). 

W4112’s goals are consistent with the USDA 2018-2022 Strategic Plan’s Goals 2, 4 and 7.  Specific objectives addressed by the project include Objective 1 (Maximize the ability of American agricultural producers to prosper by feeding and clothing the world), Objective 3 and 5 (Facilitate rural prosperity and economic development and provide all Americans access to a safe, nutritious, and secure food supply). Our primary stakeholder is the scientific community. From that community it is our expectation that livestock producers will benefit. Application of basic advances requires time and involvement of extension educators. It is the aim of the W4112 project to effectively transfer gain of knowledge to this audience through scientific publications and presentations to scientific, extension, and producer audiences.

Reproductive efficiency is widely regarded as the most limiting factor to profitability in animal production systems.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the modern dairy industry.  Loss of efficiency also impacts beef producers as a result of delayed onset of puberty, extended postpartum anestrus, low fertility, and consequently lighter calves at weaning.  In the beef industry alone, the cost of infertility to U.S. producers was estimated to be over $1.06 billion annually (Lamb, et al., 2008).  Sheep producers also miss out on the potential for added revenue by not realizing the genetic potential for lambing rates in their flocks.  Finally, new challenges are faced by farms and ranches managing domesticated exotic ruminants whose reproductive physiology is relatively unknown.

Sub-optimal reproductive efficiency of domestic ruminants and feed costs associated with producing those animals are major obstacles to maintaining the profitability and sustainability of livestock production enterprises.  Up to 70 percent of costs associated with producing viable offspring can be attributed to feed required to maintain their dams during gestation.  Likewise, decreased fertility resulting from delayed onset of puberty, prolonged postpartum anestrous intervals, early embryonic mortality, and seasonality of breeding continues to limit production.  One of the objectives of our work in W4112 is to provide the scientific and technical expertise that will encourage development and application of science-based management tools to improve the productivity, efficiency, and profitability of livestock producers.  In the current project plan we expect to increase our efforts to bring knowledge to producers and help them make decisions based on sound science while expanding our understanding of factors that affect reproductive efficiency.  

For the current project, research will be focused in the following main areas: mechanisms of gamete development, ovulation and potential causes of anovulation, establishment of pregnancy, fetal development/prenatal programing that affects fetal development, and male reproduction.