HI traditionally keeps a close eye on breeding developments and reports on new trends which can be reasonably expected to make a positive contribution to the breed. A trend that we noticed last year is the decision to not breed a cow as quickly as possible after calving, but rather to purposely increase the calving interval. As of yet this trend cannot be seen in the international statistics. The continued breeding for better fertility means that the average calving interval in most countries continues to decrease. But the direction could soon be reversed, and for good reasons.