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Biotechnology in Cattle: Artificial Insemination goals for dairy farmers


A few weeks ago, I started a series featuring biotechnology tools used in cattle herds across the country. David and Jennifer Heim are friends of mine and own a dairy farm in northeast Kansas. The Heims milk 85-100 Holstein cows and raise their heifer calves as replacements. They also raise corn, soybeans, hay, and other forages, mostly for feed. Jennifer greatly enjoys spending time with her breeding and genetics program and does an awesome job blogging about the events and decisions made on the farm. When she wrote this blog post describing their use of Artificial Insemination in the herd, I was pretty excited that she is allowing me to share it with you.

Holstein Dairy Calf Hutch Artificial Insemination

This little gal (who is not this little any more) is from one of the cows I personally bred, which is a very cool feeling. She’s out of the bull Boliver, who happens to be one of the few proven bulls we were using last year.

Breeding is important, but it really doesn’t matter what you breed a cow to if she doesn’t get pregnant. Last spring, we started using blood tests to confirm pregnancies. Since then we’ve tweaked our protocol to best suit our herd’s needs. Our milk hauler picks up our blood samples, and I am usually home on Sundays to draw blood, so every other Sunday, when our milk will be picked up on a Monday morning, I take blood samples from cows and heifers that were bred between 8 and 10 weeks prior who have not shown a heat since. The test can indicate pregnancy at 28 days, but we were observing a lot of heats just shortly after testing, and about a month after testing, when we were testing earlier. We’ve been on the every-other week at 8 weeks bred schedule for 3 or 4 months now, and have had very few come back in heat after being confirmed pregnant.

Several weeks ago we wrapped up pregnancy confirmations on all our cows and heifers that were bred in 2012. We tallied everything up, and here’s what we learned:

What are your conception rates with artificial insemination?

We started out the year with great conception – about 60%. Then we had two unexplained terrible months in March and April. Summer brought normal lulls due to heat, but was still better than March or April. After the heat subsided and the herd adjusted, we finished the year with solid conception and a lot of pregnancies, including several cows who were on their final attempts. Next fall may be busier than this one was.

How do you select sires with artificial insemination?

We used a lot of bulls – 34 total. Of many of these, we only used one or two straws as we were finishing a cane (the typical semen storage vessel, each holding 10 straws) as the year started or starting one as it ended. But, we were also only purchasing 10 units of most bulls. This wasn’t exactly unintentional. We were using mostly genomic bulls (the numbers come from DNA testing rather than daughter-proven performance), and since the technology is new, we like to balance our risk by using a variety. However, on paper, it was a little shocking,. We also hadn’t realized how few daughter-proven bulls we included in the mix.

What lessons have you learned with AI on the farm?

The excitement of genomics apparently went to our heads. We used 10 units of a sire named G W Atwood who has the show-rings buzzing with his fancy daughters, but in hindsight, that’s one of the worst investments we made. Don’t get me wrong, Atwood daughters are beautiful cows, but many are too tall for our stalls and less efficient from a feed intake vs milk production standpoint than daughters of other available bulls. That’s not what we’re looking for. Thankfully (I guess?), from the 10 units we only have two pregnancies, and they’re both short stocky old cows that should be complemented by Atwood’s dairy type, and their smaller stature will hopefully influence the stature of their potential daughters.

We also learned that conception is important. We knew this, but after the terrible time we had last spring, it really has started to hit home. One of my favorite bulls we used last year isn’t very fancy. His production isn’t off the charts. He’s just a decent bull, but he does his job – he gets cows bred. We purchased Shyster for two primary reasons – 1) his pedigree is a out-cross on almost everything we have (he’s not a cousin or brother to many of our cows) and 2) he was listed as a high conception bull. I’m not sure what his overall conception rate is in our herd now, but I know he was 3 for 3 on his first three breedings including a cow and a heifer who we had already given more chances to get pregnant than most farms would. Shyster gets cows bred, and that’s what breeding is really all about!

What plans does your farm have moving forward with AI breeding?

Our biggest take-away from all the data was the need to focus on our specific goals moving forward. Our plan for 2013 is to use more units of a few carefully selected proven bulls while still mixing in a variety of genomic bulls who best fit our goals, based on both numbers and pedigree. These steps will hopefully help us achieve the focus we feel we are lacking.

What traits are you looking for in dairy cows?

Holstein Dairy Calf Hutch Artificial Insemination

This calf is over a year old now, and we confirmed her bred today. She’s out of the bull Planet, who is still near the top of the proven lists, and is bred to sexed Grafeeti. We are milking two Planet cows currently, and we really like them.

Our ideal cows are moderate in size, convert feed efficiently into milk, and are durable and healthy to hopefully stick around for the long haul. In addition, we have started looking more closely at components (fat and protein), which are the portion of the milk we are actually paid for. Thankfully, components also happen to be very “heritable”, meaning that in just a few generations, they can be greatly improved. And if the cows look gorgeous while producing gobs of milk, that’s great, too.

And I’ll say it again, conception matters. The best bull in the world does us no good if we don’t get cows bred. Conception is affected by a lot of things – the cow’s feed and environment play a role along with our breeding techniques, but the semen plays a role, too. For most bulls there is conception data of some sort available, and we intend to take advantage of it. Semen that doesn’t get cows bred is money down the drain.

Every bull doesn’t have to meet all of these criteria; we look at more than numbers. And we do carefully mate, so we know the cow’s strengths play a role, too. That being said, I am very picky when I select bulls. I think I should be. These are our girls, and we have to do what’s best for them and their future daughters. Anything less would be selling our herd, our milk check, and ourselves short.

Follow Jennifer’s story and learn more about decisions made on her dairy farm through her blog, on Twitter (@jmheim33), and on Facebook.

What do you want to Ask a Farmer about Artificial Insemination or Biotechnology in Cattle?

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Biotechnology in Cattle: Artificial Insemination


Over the next few weeks, I’ll be working on several farms as breeding season for our cattle ramps up. As a part of my effort to share more information about biotechnology as it relates to cattle reproduction, this post will address the process we use when breeding cattle. Please leave any questions it may bring to mind in the comments section below or submit a direct message via the contact form on the Ask a Farmer page.

Artificial Insemination (AI) is the most valuable management practice to the cattle producer. The procedure makes efficient use of the generous supply of sperm available from an individual male in a manner that greatly increases genetic progress as well as improving reproductive efficiency in many situations.

Artificial Insemination: The deposition of sperm cells within the female reproductive tract by mechanical or instrumental means for the purpose of breeding.
Biotechnology: biological processes developed in the laboratory and made available in the commercial markets.

AI was the first biotechnology applied to improve reproduction and genetics of farm animals. Reproductive efficiency using AI is at least as good as using natural mating when no diseases are present and good management practices are employed. When certain diseases enter the picture, especially venereal diseases, AI becomes an important factor in their control.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Artificial Insemination

Advantages of AI far outweigh the disadvantages:

  1. Genetic improvement through more accurate evaluation of transmitting ability of males, continued after the death of the male
  2. Use of semen from genetically elite sires increases the accuracy and intensity of selection
  3. Control of venereal or other diseases
  4. Improved record keeping on farms where used
  5. More economical than natural service when genetic merit is considered
  6. Safer by the elimination of dangerous bulls on the farm, especially for the dairy breeds

Disadvantages of AI include the amount of time livestock managers must spend checking females for estrus. Some special facilities for corralling and insemination are required. Trained personnel are required to perform the technique.

Process of Artificial Insemination

  • First the semen is collected from males through artificial insemination methods

  • Technicians make certain the semen contains sperm of sufficient quality and quantity to survive freezing and thawing with enough viable sperm to complete conception
  • Semen is examined in the laboratory for foreign material and quality. Quality is determined by the number of sperm per millimeter of semen, how active sperm are (motility) and the shape of the sperm
  • Semen is preserved by storing it in tanks of liquid nitrogen at a temperature of -320 degrees F or below
  • At the time of insemination the semen containing the sperm is thawed, the technician then injects the semen into the female reproductive tract. This requires a degree of skill.

Artificial Insemination in Different Species

Merck Veterinary Manual gives a good overview of AI and reproductive technologies in many species:

This is an introduction to artificial insemination (AI) in livestock. If you have more specific questions, please leave a comment below or submit a question in the Ask a Farmer tab. Submissions will be used to answer questions in my series on biotechnology.

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Ask a Farmer: Biotechnology and Cattle Reproduction


Cattle Ultrasound Image biotechnology reproduction

Ultrasound image of ~50 day pregnancy in a Holstein cow

Most folks get to share “Peanut” photos of their kids, so I figure it’s only fair I get to share one from our cows

During the month of April, my schedule is jam packed and I’m finding myself on the road nearly every day. It’s breeding season for our cattle in Tennessee and it’s the best learning experience a guy could ask for! I’m ultrasounding for the presence of ovarian structures (signs of estrous activity), synchronizing estrous cycles, using artificial insemination to breed cows, collecting embryos from 15 donor cows, and doing fresh embryo transfer to 75 recipient cows. Then, in another month, I’ll be doing more ultrasound work to determine pregnancy rates. With over 700 cows and heifers to work with, my arms will definitely be sore.

Here’s your chance to learn more, pick my brain, and aid in my study skills.

What questions do you have about biotechnology as it relates to cattle reproduction?

Submit your questions in the comments below or submit a private message through the Ask a Farmer tab. Once my schedule relaxes a bit toward the end of the month, I will do some Q&A posts to share my experiences.

To get you started and give you an idea of what I’m talking about, any of the activities listed above are fair game, and these links should give you some good background reading material.

Get to submitting those questions! I can’t think of a much easier opportunity to ask. Follow along on my Facebook page and Twitter feeds for updates and photos.

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Common Misconceptions in Food and Agriculture


agriculture misconceptions jersey chocolate milk cow

Chocolate milk comes from brown cows? No, but that’s what people tell dairy farmers like Carrie Mess.

On a weekly basis, I usually receive 8-10 questions via my Ask A Farmer contact form from folks who just want to know more about agriculture in general. I’m just one guy with an opinion who is willing to share my opinion. I try to incorporate links with perspectives from others as often as possible when replying to these questions.

Being that last week was National Agriculture Week across much of the country, many folks have been sharing their opinions and expressing why they are proud to be a part of agriculture. One post that stands out for me is from Virginia Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture, Matt Lohr (@Mjlohr71 on Twitter).

Matt has a Top 10 list of common misconceptions about agriculture. These are similar to many questions I receive, so I wanted to share another perspective on the issues. Below are the numbers 10-6. The final 5 can be viewed on the Virginia Department of Agriculture website.

#10 – Small farms are unimportant. In many ways, small farms are the backbone of Virginia agriculture. They range in size from three or four acres to 150 acres or so, but they probably do the best job of any farms to provide local food. Many small farms sell directly to the consumer through roadside stands, on-farm sales, farmers’ markets and events. They are at the heart of the Buy Local movement and not only provide food but also provide that all important one-on-one relationship between farmer and consumer. They are also one of the fastest growing segments of Virginia agriculture.

#9 – All large farms are corporate farms. In Virginia nearly 90 percent of our farms are family-owned and operated. Many family farms are incorporated for business purposes or to ensure an orderly transition from one generation to the next, but incorporated is not the same as corporate. The vast majority of our farmers live on the land they work, and they have a very special bond with the land that may go back generations. Their roots run deep.

#8 – Farmers are destroying the environment. This is absolutely not true. In fact, farmers are the original good stewards of land and water resources. These resources are, after all, how they make their living, so it makes sense to protect them. I find it interesting that many of the complaints to our Ag Stewardship Program about perceived environmental problems are unsubstantiated. What the public perceives as an environmental problem often is not. At the same time that farms give us environmental benefits such as green spaces and wildlife habitat, they use far fewer resources than the average urban or suburban home.

#7 – There’s no future in agriculture. I’ll admit that for a few years, many of us were concerned about the future of agriculture and the next generation of farmers. But things are changing. Fox News recently ran a feature that said ag degrees are the hot ticket for job growth. They quote data from the Food and Agriculture Education Information System that says enrollment in U.S. college and university agriculture programs are up 21 percent since 2006. The data show more than 146,000 undergraduates in ag programs. This growing interest is critical for the future of food production, as world population growth is creating a greater demand for food, and the average age of farmers in many states is near 60.

#6 – Farmers are uneducated. This is a persistent myth and one we need to bust. The days are long gone when you learned everything you needed to know about farming from your grandfather. That doesn’t mean we discount grandpa’s advice, born from years and years of experience. It does mean that today’s farmers need post-high school training in a variety of areas: animal science, agronomy, environmental science, business, marketing, communications, perhaps even law and psychology. Today’s farmers also need to be life-long learners. If you’ve been on a farm recently, you’ve probably seen a farmer using his cell phone in the field to make decisions about planting or applying pesticides or fertilizer. That’s the kind of on-the-job training every farmer needs these days to stay competitive and make a profit.

Read more on how Ag Commissioner Matt Lohr responds to misconceptions 5-1 on the Virginia Department of Agriculture website. These misconceptions include:

  • The cost of food goes directly into the farmer’s pocket.
  • Food costs too much.
  • Our food is unsafe.
  • Farmers abuse their animals.
  • All farmers are rich.

Did any of these address concerns you have about agriculture? What would be on your Top 10 list?

Submit your questions via the contact form on my Ask a Farmer page.

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