Page 24 - MWC 2-24-2022s

The Midwest Cattleman · February 24, 2022 · P24
Artificial Insemination with a Small Beef Herd

By Dean Kreager, OSU Extension Ag and Natural Resources Educator
With only 10% of beef herds door to using the top genet- There still is a concern of sex-
in the United States utiliz- ics in the country. For $20 to ually transmitted diseases
ing Artificial Insemination $50 per straw you can pur- being transferred if the bull
(A.I.), from time to time the chase semen on nearly any services other cattle through
discussion arises on wheth- bull. You also have the op- lease arrangements or weak too near insemination time
er it is worth doing on small tion to purchase semen from fences. can result in reduced preg-
beef farms. In some situa- a variety of sires to improve The third can be a big one nancy rates.
tions, this is an easy answer your genetic diversity. Can and that is safety. No matter Be sure your cows are re-
while in other situations it is you afford more than one bull how calm a bull may seem it ceiving adequate nutrition.
not so clear cut. Some herds in a small herd? New sires is still a bull and should not This involves testing the
are operated with the goal of are released every year and be trusted. While beef bulls forage and monitoring body
producing superior offspring. on average each generation tend to be less dangerous condition scores. Very thin
Others are trying to get in- is better than the previous than dairy bulls there are cows with body condition
come from land that is not generation. How often can still many people injured or scores of 4 or less are like-
suitable for other purposes, you afford to replace your killed by bulls each year. ly to have greatly reduced
and they want to do it with bull with a new model? Fi- But First fertility. Remember that
minimal labor. Both are wor- nally, you have the option of the nutrients a cow takes in
Before implementing an
thy goals but the use of A.I. sexed semen. Improvements A.I. breeding program it is first go to maintenance and
only fits one of the two situ- continue to be made in sex second to growth. Next the
ations. sorting semen. Current re- crucial that your herd health nutrients are used for pro-
and nutrition program are
Why use A.I.? sults are typically within being taken care of. duction which in this case is
milk. Finally, anything that
There are many possible 10% of conventional semen If you do not have a vac- is left can be used for repro-
pregnancy rates.
reasons, but I will just dis- The second is biosecurity. cination program in place, duction. Too often there may
cuss three here. A bull brought into your herd consult with your veterinari- not be enough energy or pro-
The first is genetic im- an to develop a program that tein left after maintenance,
provement. Whether you has the potential to bring will work well for your farm. growth and production take
along diseases that your herd
are raising purebred cattle may not have been exposed Breeding time is not the time their share and reproduction
and tracking EPD’s or rais- to in the past. A good vacci- to vaccinate. Vaccinations suffers.
ing show cattle and looking should be given 5-6 weeks
at phenotype, A.I. opens the nation program goes a long before breeding. Vaccinating continued on page 32
way in reducing these risks.