*Transition Cow Indexes provide the basis for estimating the economic impacts of improving transition cow management. The economic impact of TCI is calculated from these associations:

• Each additional pound of TCI is associated with 1.27 pounds of milk in the current lactation
• Each additional pound of TCI is associated with 0.00265 percent increase in lactation survival rate.  In other words, an increase of 1,000 lbs TCI reduces turnover rate by 2.65 percent.

Using current prices, a 1,000 pound change in TCI is worth $250 per cow per year. The spread between better and poorer TCI scores is about 4,000 pounds meaning there is a $1,000 per cow per year opportunity for improving fresh cow management on a number of dairies.