The effect of the rainy (RS) and the dry season (DS) on fertility, corpus luteum activity, and adrenal cortex response relationships were evaluated after first service (49 +/- 6 d postpartum) in Carora cows, a dairy cattle of Venezuela raised in tropical conditions. Cows (n = 84 in RS and n = 98 in DS) were kept semistabled, had two or three calvings, body condition score 3.5 on a 5-point scale and similar milk yield (2450 +/- 560 kg of milk during the previous lactation). Cows were grouped retrospectively according to pregnancy status. A split-plot model with repeated measures over Days 5, 7, 10, 14, and 15 after insemination was used to analyze the effects of season, pregnancy status, and their interaction involving the day on: 1) serum concentration of progesterone in four treatments: RS pregnant (n = 26), RS nonpregnant (n = 24), DS pregnant (n = 24), and DS nonpregnant (n = 20) cows; 2) serum concentration of cortisol at Days 0, 10, 14, 15, and 16 postservice in the previous treatments (n = 9, 7, 6, and 8, respectively); and 3) concentrations of cortisol after 0.1 mg of adrenocorticotropin in these last four groups of cows at Day 14 postinsemination. Breeding during the DS decreased (P < 0.05) conception rate to first service and increased (P < 0.01) days in service. In addition, the DS decreased (P < 0.05) the percentages of cows with normal interestrous interval (20-22 d), expression of estrus, and (P < 0.01) luteal phase progesterone; but DS increased (P < 0.05) percentages of short and long estrous cycles, anovulatory estrus, and repeat breeding rate. Mean serum concentration of progesterone was lower (P < 0.05) at Days 10, 14, and 15 in DS nonpregnant than in DS pregnant cows, and lower during luteal phase (P < 0.05) in DS nonpregnant than RS nonpregnant cows. Serum cortisol concentration was greater (P < 0.05) at Days 10, 14, and 16 in DS nonpregnant than DS pregnant cows. A significant (P < 0.05) negative correlation (r = -0.78) between serum concentrations of progesterone and cortisol was found within DS nonpregnant cows. Concentrations of cortisol after adrenocorticotropin were greater (P < 0.05) in DS nonpregnant cows than in other groups. These results indicate that elevated concentrations of cortisol associated with the DS may decrease progesterone secreted by the corpus luteum and therefore mediate the negative effect of the DS on fertility.