Reproduction

With pregnancy-check season just around the corner, now is a great time to reflect on how this year’s breeding season went.

For most cow-calf producers, fall typically means weaning the calf crop. Yet for many producers, it also means fall calving. According to the USDA-NASS Cattle Inventory report, approximately 27% of calves were born during the second half of 2019.

The value of bull breeding soundness examinations (BSE) is well known. Approximately one in five bulls do not meet the minimum BSE standards established by the Society for Theriogenology. Bulls not meeting these minimum standards are seldom infertile; they are usually subfertile and will have lower conception rates than those who meet these standards.

If you’ve been involved in the cattle industry for any length of time, you are likely familiar with the term freemartin, a heifer who is born a twin to a bull calf.

Sire selection requires identifying a breeding objective; choosing a breed or (preferably) breeds, based on objective differences; choosing a seedstock supplier and then choosing a bull. This requires knowledge of production environments, firm-level economics, breed differences, heterosis and genetic predictions (e.g., expected progeny difference or EPD).

Thanks to new research and better techniques, IVF is more affordable for beef and dairy producers.